Elon Musk spent hours posting a series of aggressive messages on X regarding director Alex Gibney following the premiere of a new documentary about the tech mogul at the Venice Film Festival. Musk attacked the Oscar-winning filmmaker with harsh language, calling him a “bitter old man who lost the plot long ago” and claiming he has “zero integrity.”
Musk described the documentary as a “hit piece that misses” and labeled it “boring af [as f—]” because of its four-hour runtime. The situation escalated quickly as Musk moved into conspiracy theories. He alleged that the film is a “psy op” and posted an image suggesting that Gibney is being controlled by George Soros and the Democratic Party. In another post, Musk shared a photo of the director with a realistic poop emoji placed on his head, adding the comment, “It’s an improvement.”
Beyond the personal insults, Musk has reportedly threatened legal action against Jigsaw Productions, the company behind the film. The documentary includes claims that Musk used his Starlink satellites to help President Donald Trump during the 2024 election.
A legal letter from Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, asserts that these claims are false
In the letter, Spiro wrote, “You are … on notice, before release, that the insinuation is false, that the material refuting it is public, and that you chose not to be told the rest.” The legal counsel further noted that election officials, independent cybersecurity researchers, and fact-checkers refuted the Starlink vote-rigging claims back in November 2024.
A significant portion of the tension stems from the involvement of Ashley St. Clair, a conservative influencer who had a son with Musk in 2024. In the documentary, St. Clair claims that Musk told her he was going to “unleash the ‘anomaly in the matrix’” prior to the election.
Musk publicly denied these claims and also addressed rumors regarding a financial settlement. He wrote, “She was never offered that and has a history of making false claims,” directly refuting the idea that he offered a $40 million settlement tied to a non-disclosure agreement.
Gibney took a different approach during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival. He described the experience of making the film by noting that he encountered a “tremendous sense of fear” while searching for people willing to be interviewed.
When discussing his perspective on the subject, Gibney said, “What I discovered was that the story of Musk was not, in a way, a new tech story. Though there’s much about it that is tech, but… his story is really the story of an old wine in a new bottle. His story turns out to be the story of the confidence man, the stock pumper, his wealth and power comes from inflated stock, and so I had told that story before with Enron and with Elizabeth Holmes, and so it was a story that was oddly familiar to me.”
As of now, representatives for both parties have been contacted for comment regarding the ongoing dispute.
Published: Sep 10, 2026 05:38 pm