Elon Musk has confirmed that he maintained two secret accounts on his social media platform X, including one that appears to be used to roleplay as his young son. This admission came during a heated deposition as part of a libel lawsuit against Musk.
The revelation came as part of the deposition, obtained and made public by HuffPost, for a defamation lawsuit filed against Musk by 22-year-old Jewish man Ben Brody. Brody is suing Musk for endorsing false claims that he was involved in a neo-Nazi rally in Portland, Oregon last year — an allegation Brody denies, as he was not even in the state at the time.
During the deposition, Musk confirmed that he has two alternate Twitter accounts besides his main @elonmusk profile. @ermnmusk, a “test account” that he “barely used,” as well as a more regularly used side account under the handle @babysmurf9000.
Court exhibits showed that Musk used the @ermnmusk account to interact with high-profile figures like MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, making comments like “Do you like Japanese girls?” and “I wish I was old enough to go to nightclubs.”
Musk claimed the account was just for “testing” purposes, but the posts suggest he was actively using it to role-play as his young son with Canadian musician Grimes. In one April 2023 post, the account wrote “I will finally turn 3 on May 4th!”
…and he may have also used it to share his feelings about their breakup last year.
Musk obviously did not intend to share this information as the document shows that Musk took a combative stance throughout the proceedings, with the billionaire clashing repeatedly with Brody’s lawyer, Mark Bankston. Musk at one point accused Bankston of engineering the lawsuit for financial gain, while his lawyer, Alex Spiro, made numerous snarky comments and objections.
The @ermnmusk account also appears to have been deleted on the same day as the court’s discovery order, Bankston notes.
“This deletion is alarming because February 21, 2024 is the date of the Court’s discovery order,” Bankston writes in a footnote of the deposition. “In other words, after almost a year of inactivity on the account and with no recent public discussion about it, it appears Musk chose to delete the account on the day the Court ordered discovery to go forward, which is either intentional spoliation or an extraordinary longshot coincidence.”
The revelations about Musk’s secret X accounts and his behavior during the deposition add to a growing list of controversies surrounding the billionaire. Since taking over the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, he has repeatedly alienated advertisers and outraged civil society groups by spreading conspiracy theories and endorsing antisemitic ideas.
Read: Elon Musk Changes X Policy to Protect Antisemitic Cartoonist
Information for this story was found via HuffPost, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
