Elon Musk allegedly used his first dance with his then-wife to make it clear who he believed was in control.
According to Justine Wilson Musk’s appearance in Alex Gibney’s new documentary Musk, which was viewed by People, Musk allegedly told her, “I am the alpha in this relationship,” as they danced at their 2000 wedding.
More than two decades later, Justine says the remark was part of a larger pattern. She describes a marriage in which Musk frequently criticized her, made her feel unimportant, and spoke to her as though she were his employee.
“I learned the term ‘gaslighting’ through my relationship with Elon,” Justine says in the film. “He was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking.”
Justine’s account stands out as one of the more personal revelations in Gibney’s nearly four-hour examination of the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire. The documentary premiered Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival and is set to hit theaters on October 16.
One of the couple’s disagreements centers on an especially painful subject: the death of their first child. Nevada died from sudden infant death syndrome at just 10 weeks old in 2002. Justine disputes a previous social-media claim from Musk that he held Nevada as the baby died. According to Justine, she was the parent holding their son.
The couple went on to have five more children: twins Griffin and Vivian, followed by triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian. Their marriage ended in 2008, but Justine says she later found herself caught in the middle of another rupture—this time between Musk and Vivian.
Vivian, who is transgender, has become one of her father’s most outspoken critics. Musk has publicly said he effectively “lost” his daughter and blamed the “woke mind virus.” In the documentary, Justine offers a different view, alleging Musk cut off Vivian’s health insurance after she came out and has “never tried to repair things” with her.
“It’s not in his nature,” Justine says.
Yet she claims Musk also told her to pass along a message to Vivian: “I’ll always love her.”
Justine isn’t the only former partner speaking in Musk. Ashley St. Clair, who shares son Romulus with Musk, claims he told her they needed “a legion of children before the civil war.” St. Clair also says she rejected an alleged $40 million non-disclosure agreement rather than stay silent.
That “legion” already includes 14 publicly known children with four women. Musk had six children with Justine, including Nevada; three with Grimes; four with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis; and Romulus with St. Clair.
The accounts give Gibney’s documentary plenty of ground to cover beyond Musk’s companies, wealth, and ambitions in artificial intelligence and space. The filmmaker said there was “a tremendous sense of fear of talking” among the people he approached, including Musk’s critics, colleagues, and friends.
Musk himself declined to participate and had previously dismissed the documentary as a “hit piece.”
