Story by Emily Smith
Elon Musk’s Ex Ashley St. Clair | Credit: Variety/X
Elon Musk’s ex-girlfriend said she refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement for $40m (£30m) so she could appear in a documentary about the tech billionaire.
According to Ashley St Clair, the Tesla boss offered to pay her to stop her from appearing in the new documentary called Musk, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday.
The Right-wing influencer, 28, who shares a son with Mr Musk, said she declined the money because she wanted to set a good example for her children.
Ms St Clair gave birth to Mr Musk’s reportedly 13th child last year.
Speaking at a press conference for the documentary in Venice, Ms St Clair said: “I want to set the example for my kids that you should never take being materially comfortable over speaking the truth.
“When you are offered something like that, it creates a debate about what your speech means and how valuable that is.
“Why do they want to offer me this amount of money to not speak?”
The four-hour documentary explores Mr Musk’s work in Donald Trump’s government as apparent head of the department of government efficiency (DOGE).
The film claims junior staffers were given access to confidential US citizen data as part of the department’s drive to cut government waste.
The documentary also covers problems with Tesla’s autopilot system that has been investigated in connection with a number of fatal crashes.
Former employees suggest in the film that Tesla rushed development and pushed back against government oversight of failures.
Tesla has repeatedly denied these claims, arguing that its autopilot features improve overall road safety when used with required human supervision.
Director Alex Gibney, Ashley St Clair and Zoe Schiffer at a photocall for the documentary – REUTERS/Yves Herman
The documentary argues the Tesla boss’s support for Mr Trump was rooted in a fear that a Democratic president could bring an investigation into his activities.
Alex Gibney, the director, said many people were too frightened to speak in the documentary: “There was a tremendous sense of fear of talking, really almost existential fear, both among people who were his critics, people who were his business colleagues and people who are his friends.”
Other interviewees in the documentary include Justine Musk, the Tesla boss’s first wife, and Errol Musk, his father.
The SpaceX chief has dismissed the film, writing on X that Mr Gibney was biased and was “obviously going to make the most convincingly terrible hit piece on me that he can possibly think of”.
Ms St Clair has gained prominence as a Right-wing political commentator. She has more than one million followers on X. She began dating Mr Musk in 2023.
This Elon Musk documentary is a chillingly forensic hatchet job
