A British diver who helped rescue youth soccer players trapped in a Thai cave is suing Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Vernon Unsworth alleges that Musk falsely accused him on Twitter of being a pedophile.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court seeks more than $75,000 in damages and a court order stopping Musk from making further allegations.
Musk in July called Unsworth a “pedo” after Unsworth criticized Musk in a television interview. Musk and SpaceX engineers built a small submarine and shipped it to Thailand to help with the rescue.
The device wasn’t used, and Unsworth called it a “PR stunt.” Later Musk accused Unsworth of moving to Thailand to be with a bride who was about 12 years old.
Musk later apologized to Unsworth, saying “his words were spoken in anger.” But in August Musk seemed to revive the accusation against the diver, responding someone on Twitter by saying, “You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me?”
Some hours later, Unsworth’s lawyer replied to the tweet with a picture of a letter sent to Musk informing him he would be sued for libel.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk’s erratic behavior, including appearing to smoke marijuana on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast earlier this month, has recently aroused concerns among Tesla investors and other backers of the company. One Wall Street analyst called the electric automaker “no longer investable,” citing Musk’s conduct.
Tesla shares briefly dipped Monday after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has invested $1 billion in a rival electric car maker, Lucid Motors. The stock recovered and was up slightly in afternoon trade.
The news comes after Musk in on August 7 tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private, only to abruptly reverse course just a weeks later.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
