Elon Musk appears to be struggling to contain the fallout from a new tranche of Epstein-related material.
After newly released Department of Justice emails showed Musk communicated at length with Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire spent hours on X posting a stream of messages that read like an attempt to get out ahead of the story and reassure followers.
For a while, he acted as if nothing had happened—sharing an AI-generated anime-style clip, posting political memes, and promoting his chatbot Grok’s ability to “probe the Universe.” It wasn’t until after midnight that he addressed the controversy directly.
“No one pushed harder than me to have the Epstein files released and I’m glad that has finally happened,” Musk wrote. “I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his ‘Lolita Express’, but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name.”
Musk has previously positioned himself as an advocate for releasing Epstein-related records, and has publicly framed the issue as one of transparency. But the emails cited in the latest release suggest the relationship involved more than minimal contact. According to the messages referenced, Musk not only received invitations repeatedly, but at times appeared to seek them out—asking about gatherings and parties. One email quoted from 2012 reads: “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”
As the reaction spread, Musk leaned into a familiar line of defense—dismissal of coverage as dishonest. Responding to a screenshot of headlines about the emails, he posted that “Legacy media lies relentlessly,” even as replies under his posts filled up with additional screenshots of the correspondence.
He then shifted to a different argument: that he had no need to associate with Epstein because, he claimed, it would be easy for him to socialize with “young women” without anyone’s assistance.
“If I actually wanted to spend my time partying with young women, it would be trivial for me to do so without the help of a creepy loser like Epstein,” Musk wrote, before pivoting into bragging about his own mental capacity: “And I would still have 99% of my mind available to think about other things. But I don’t.” Users quickly pointed to a 2022 post in which Musk complained he hadn’t “had sex in ages (sigh).”
In an odd twist, the message was posted as a reply to Grok—meaning Musk wasn’t responding to critics directly so much as arguing with his own AI chatbot, a product widely seen as reflecting his worldview.
He also attempted to redirect attention by highlighting other high-profile tech names that appeared in the broader Epstein files, framing it as a wider scandal rather than one centered on him.
Notably, he did not address why the emails show communication continuing years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sex crimes involving underage girls.
The renewed scrutiny is also landing in the context of Musk’s long history of controversies unrelated to Epstein. Musk has fathered at least 14 children with multiple partners, and reports have described him pressuring women—including some connected to his companies—to have his children. He has also faced accusations of sexual harassment and related lawsuits. In 2022, he reportedly paid $250,000 to settle a claim from a flight attendant who accused him of sexual misconduct. More recently, he faced backlash after Grok was used to generate a large volume of nonconsensual AI nude images, including of women and children—an episode Musk reportedly brushed off as “way funnier” than other AI trends.
Whatever his public posture, Musk doesn’t seem amused by the latest controversy. Still, he attempted to close with a message portraying himself as willing to absorb criticism for a higher cause.
“The strong must protect those cannot protect themselves, especially vulnerable children,” Musk wrote on Sunday. “I will gladly accept any amount of future pain to do more to protect kids and give them a chance to grow up and have happy lives.”
