Elon Musk has finally apologised for calling one of the Thai cave rescuers a “pedo guy”. Well, kind of. In a couple of tweets, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO said he had spoken in anger and that his actions against Vernon Unsworth, a British rescue worker who helped bring the 12 Thai boys and their football coach, were not justified.
But Musk’s tweets fall short of a full and satisfying apology. Instead, they are the latest shining example of the non-apology apology, a literary genre that Silicon Valley tech bros have truly made their own.
Let’s recap: Musk’s non-apology apology comes after a tense week in which the world followed the daring rescue of 12 Thai boys and their football coach, who had become trapped in a cave in Chiang Rai after it flooded. While an international team of rescuers worked on a plan to bring the boys out, Musk began testing his own idea – a mini-submarine made of rocket parts that could fit a child inside.
Musk made a lot of his attempt to swoop in as the football team’s saviour, posting videos of pool tests using the sub and flying to Thailand himself to deliver it. On July 10, Musk posted a picture on Twitter from the caves and said he would leave the mini-sub there in case it turned out useful. The sub was not used, and divers managed to escort the 13 stranded footballers out of the cave system.
In a video interview with CNN after the boys were all safe, caver Unsworth was asked about Musk’s sub. He criticised the idea, calling it “just a PR stunt” that “had absolutely no chance of working.”
“He can stick his submarine where it hurts,” Unsworth said.
Musk took to his medium of choice to denounce Unsworth. In response to a Twitter thread by New York Times writer Zeynep Tufekci, who quoted Unsworth’s words, Musk challenged the caver’s suggestion that the sub wouldn’t have worked and said he would make a video to prove it could go through the cave. He ended his tweet: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
There was no base for this slur, but Musk later doubled-down on the accusation, responding to someone who questioned his reaction: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.”
Musk’s tweets were later deleted. After days of silence, his attempt at an apology comes once again on Twitter, this time in response to a user who shared a post about the incident.
“As this well-written article suggests, my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader,” he wrote. “Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.”
What makes a good apology? A good apology should convey regret and remorse. It should be sincere. It should come from the perpetrator recognising that they have done something wrong, taking responsibility for it, and truly wishing to make amends. It should be made to the person to whom it is actually owed.
Musk falls down on pretty much every one of these fundamental criteria. First off, this apology is not made directly to Unsworth – it’s in response to someone unrelated to the incident. It also comes several days after Musk made the “pedo” comment, during which time his remarks have been widely condemned, including by the press, many of his followers, and even investors. Tesla stock fell four per cent following Musk’s outburst, and news sites reported that Unsworth was considering legal action.
A couple of tweets, several days after the incident, after mounting criticism, in response to a rando on Twitter? It’s not a great start. But let’s break down Musk’s apology in detail to see how he gets it so wrong:
“As this well-written article suggests”
The “article” in question is a user-submitted response on Quora to the question: “What's the full story behind Elon Musk's involvement with the Thai cave rescue effort?” The writer presents Musk in a favourable light and is critical of the media “narrative” around the incident. He condemns Musk’s slur against Unsworth, which he calls “a provoked but disproportionate response”, but goes on to offer a defence of the billionaire which draws on everything from “fake news” to Tesla short sellers to Musk’s political donations.
Musk’s apology comes in response to a tweet that quotes this Quora answer, with the comment: “Finally a thorough piece of reporting on the @elonmusk Thai submarine fiasco. By a non-reporter. Journalism is dead. But if we can fight to distribute pieces like this, with high-signal-to-noise ratio, we can resurrect.”
Musk has been outspoken in his criticism of the press and what he perceives as a media bias against him. By starting his apology in this way, he is using it as a platform to once again promote his negative views of the media and to imply that the image presented of him is unfair. Not exactly the most promising base for a heartfelt apology, but let’s continue.
“my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths…”
Here, Musk tries to justify his response as an emotive reaction to Unsworth’s words. He’s essentially saying, “He started it!”
Musk doesn't clarify what Unsworth said that he believes to be untrue, though we can assume from other interactions that he disagrees with Unsworth’s assertion that the sub wouldn’t have worked in this scenario.
“…& suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub”
By “sexual act”, Musk is referring to Unsworth saying he could “stick his submarine where it hurts”. “Sexual act” is a strange way to characterise what is a pretty common colloquial insult, and it’s unlikely anyone would assume from Unsworth’s words that he literally meant Musk should engage in a sexual act with his submarine. By choosing to frame it this way, Musk is perhaps trying to make his own choice of words when he called Unsworth a “pedo guy” seem less unreasonably disproportionate – but it’s pretty difficult to read this with a straight face.
Hopefully it’s obvious that telling someone they can “stick [it] where it hurts” is very different to accusing someone of being a paedophile. Indeed, even explicitly telling someone to have sex with a submarine would be very different to accusing someone of being a paedophile (I might even save that one for my own future use).
“which had been built as an act of kindness”
I’ll give Musk the benefit of the doubt that his desire to build the submarine came from a genuinely good place – though his continued bitterness at not finding himself in the role of the cave rescue hero does cast a bit of a shadow over the apparent selflessness of this act…
“& according to specifications from the dive team leader”
Throughout the whole cave incident, Musk has had a bee in his bonnet about whom he considers to be the real leader of the rescue effort, which was a collaborative effort between many different people. When one of the organisers, Narongsak Osotthanakorn, told the BBC that Musk’s sub was “not practical” for the mission, Musk’s response was to argue that Osotthanakorn was not the “subject matter expert”.
He went on to tweet out an email conversation between himself and British diver Richard Stanton, in which Stanton encouraged him to keep working on the submarine. Presumably Stanton is the person he means here by “dive team leader”.
“Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him”
Damn right.
“and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader.”
This bit starts off well – he actually says “I apologize”, which is more than a lot of tech bro non-apology apologies manage. (It's rare the word "sorry" is actually used). Musk also avoids the old “I apologize if I caused offense” chestnut, a favourite among less-than-genuine apologisers.
The choice to apologise to Unsworth and his own companies in the same breath, however, is jarring. One he accused of being a paedophile; the others just have to put up with a CEO who thinks it’s OK to call a diver who has just helped save a bunch of kids’ lives a paedophile.
“The fault is mine and mine alone.”
Agreed. I mean, who else’s would it be? (Oh, sorry Elon – of course, it’s that nasty Unsworth’s, for saying horrible things about your baby submarine.)
All in all, it's not a great apology. Musk tries to paint himself as a victim, attempts to justify his response even while saying it was not justified, and appears to only reluctantly take responsibility for his actions. He even manages to get a stab at the media in there.
I suppose it could have been worse. He could have pretended his Twitter was hacked.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
