Cards Against Humanity, the creators behind the highly successful edgy “party game for horrible people,” filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk for $15 million. The filing was submitted on Sept. 19, 2024, in Texas, where the Chicago-based company owns a plot of land in the city of Brownsville, located near the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2017, Cards Against Humanity purchased a vacant property in Texas with the help of 150,000 patrons who paid $15 each. The move was to thwart then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to build a wall to keep illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. “Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans,” the company said at that time. For years, the plot of land remained pristine until Musk’s Astronautics company, SpaceX, used the land without Cards Against Humanity’s permission.
Cards Against Humanity’s claims
Musk’s company’s headquarters, known as SpaceX Starbase, is also located near Brownsville, Texas. Cards Against Humanity claims that “while building some space thing nearby,” SpaceX workers have been using their land for months to dump materials without asking. The once-empty expanse, lush with greenery, is now full of tractors, gravel, generators, and other construction materials.
“Seven years ago, 150,000 people paid us $15 to protect a pristine parcel of land on the US-Mexico border from racist billionaire Donald Trump’s very stupid wall. Unfortunately, an even richer, more racist billionaire — Elon Musk — snuck up on us from behind and completely f***ed that land with gravel, tractors, and space garbage.”
Cards Against Humanity kept the property in its natural state after the purchase and had a “No Trespassing” sign erected. Throughout the years, however, SpaceX acquired the surrounding properties and according to the lawsuit, Musk’s company ignored property lines, cleared vegetation, and proceeded to use Cards Against Humanity’s land. After finding out that their land was being used without permission, the company reached out to SpaceX about the issue, and in response, Musk’s company offered to purchase the land for less than half its worth. Furthermore, SpaceX wanted a response within 12 hours of their offer. Cards Against Humanity didn’t back down and responded, “Go f*** yourself, Elon Musk. We’ll see you in court.”
Giving back to their patrons
Cards Against Humanity says one of the reasons for filing the lawsuit was to restore their patrons’ trust, especially the 150,000 who donated their money to help buy the property that they “vowed to protect” from “racist billionaires and their dumb vanity projects.” If they win the lawsuit, the $15 million will be divided among the 150,000 people, with each person getting $100.
Cards Against Humanity has engaged in social and political causes throughout the years. In 2014, the company sold 30,000 boxes of bull poop at $6 each for Black Friday. Part of the proceeds was donated to Heifer International, a charity with a mission to end poverty by sending livestock to developing areas.
Three years later, Cards Against Humanity, with the help of their patrons, sent more than 2,000 potatoes to Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s office. “Legally, we’re not allowed to call Senator Johnson a cruel idiot who doesn’t understand how health insurance works. But we are allowed to mail thousands of potatoes to his office demanding that he listen to his constituents and hold a town hall,” the company stated. Each potato had a sticker that read, “Hold a town hall.” In 2022, they donated all profits from their card game sales in red states to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which amounted to $500,000.
Cards Against Humanity has set up a website dedicated to the Elon Musk/SpaceX lawsuit, which addresses their patrons and provides more details about the issue. They also posted links to articles about Texans and their problems with Musk, and signed off by writing, “with great vengeance and furious anger, Cards Against Humanity.”