Elongate: Musk accused of paying $250k to staffer for exposing himself

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been accused of sexual misconduct by exposing himself to a flight attendant and offering to pay her for sexual favors.

BusinessInsider has learned that a flight attendant that worked at SpaceX as part of Musk's private jet cabin crew was encouraged by the crew to become a licensed masseuse so she could give Musk massages throughout travel. The flight attendant told her story to a friend that has now spoken to Insider, and according to the friend, on a flight to London in 2016, Musk allegedly asked for "a full body massage", and when the flight attendant arrived, she found Musk with just a sheet covering his bottom half.

According to the friend's declaration, Musk "exposed his genitals" and then "touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would 'do more,' referring to the performance of sex acts." The flight attendant is interested in horses and said to Musk that she "is not for sale," adding, "She is not going to perform sexual favors for money or gifts." Insider interviewed the flight attendant's friend, only speaking on the condition of anonymity, and said that "He whipped out his penis, it was erect."

"And he started propositioning her, like he touched her thigh and told her he would buy her a horse. And he basically tried to bribe her to perform some sort of sexual favor."

Furthermore, the flight attendant informed the friend that she believed things would go back to normal after she declined Musk's advances and that she would "pretend like nothing happened", but "she started to feel as if she was receiving some sort of retaliation where her shifts were cut back, and she was starting to feel really stressed."

The declaration states that the flight attendant felt that "she was being pushed out and punished for refusing to prostitute herself," which resulted in a severance package of $250,000 being drawn up with the flight attendant's lawyer, a mediator, SpaceX officials, and Musk present. The package came with several non-disclosure agreements that restricted the flight attendant from ever talking about the severance package or Musk and his businesses.

BusinessInsider contacted Musk to comment on these allegations, and Musk replied to the publication via email, saying there is "a lot more to this story", and "If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light." Adding that the story is a "politically motivated hit piece."

Furthermore, SpaceX vice president of legal Christopher Cardaci said, "I'm not going to comment on any settlement agreements."