Elon Musk denies sexual harassment claims made by flight attendant

Elon Musk makes a point at an event in California. PHOTO AFP OAKLAND billionaire Elon Musk took to Twitter late on Thursday to denounce as utterly untrue claims in a news report that he had sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016.

Business Insider reported earlier on Thursday that Musk's SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment claim from an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her.

The article quoted an anonymous person who said she was a friend of the flight attendant. According to the article, the friend had provided a statement as part of the private settlement process.

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I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me 'exposed' : describe just one thing, anything at all scars, tattoos, that isn't known by the public. She won't be able to do so because it never happened, Musk tweeted.

Reuters was not able to verify the Business Insider account. In addition to allegedly exposing himself, Musk rubbed the flight attendant's thigh and offered to buy her a horse if she would do more during an in-flight massage, Business Insider quoted the friend of the flight attendant as saying.

The flight attendant realized that her refusal to accept Musk's proposal had hurt her opportunities to work at SpaceX and prompted her to hire a lawyer in 2018 according to Business Insider.

Business Insider said the settlement was out of court and included a nondisclosure agreement that prevented the flight attendant from speaking about it. The news site did not name the friend or the flight attendant.

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Musk, who is also the chief executive of Tesla Inc. and is in the midst of a contentious attempt to buy Twitter Inc., said on Wednesday he would vote Republican instead of Democrat, predicting a dirty tricks campaign against me.

On Thursday evening, Musk said that the attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens, but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech. He did not mention any of the allegations in the Business Insider article, in the initial tweet.

Musk said in another tweet that the wild accusations are utterly untrue.

He said that the article was meant to interfere with the Twitter acquisition.