SpaceX paid $250,000 to settle Elon Musk sexual harassment claim: report

New Delhi: SpaceX reportedly paid an employee $250,000 to settle a claim made by her that she was sexually harassed by the company’s founder Elon Musk in 2016, Business Insider said. Musk has been in the news for his bid to acquire Twitter for $44 billion.

According to the report, the payment was made in 2018 to an unidentified flight attendant who worked as a contract employee for a SpaceX corporate jet. The incident occurred during a flight to London.

According to interviews and documents obtained by Insider, the employee accused Musk of revealing his erect penis to her, rubbing her leg without her consent, and proposing to purchase her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage.


One of the flight attendant's friends told Insider about the allegations after the attendant's attorney requested him to sign a declaration supporting the claims in 2018.

According to the report, the flight attendant declined to perform any sexual acts on Musk and that she was "really upset" after the flight.

According to Insider, the flight attendant complained to SpaceX's HR department in 2018, claiming that her career had suffered as a result of her refusal. According to reports, the firm brought the complaint to a mediator rather than a court or an arbitrator, and the attendant signed a $250,000 severance agreement prohibiting her from criticising Musk or his companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. This included discussing the payment in general.