Why Insider Editor-in-Chief Decided to Publish Sexual Harassment Charge Against Elon Musk
The allegations were made by an unnamed source – a friend of the flight attendant – in the Business Insider story, but Carlson said the indictment met the outlet’s standards for publishing on “Reliable Sources” on Sunday.
“Every time you have a very powerful man and there are credible accusations that he has done something wrong the way he was accused of doing in this story,”[ads1]; Carlson said. “It is absolutely and in a way obviously newsworthy.”
Business Insider reported that in 2018 SpaceX paid a settlement of $ 250,000 after the flight attendant alleged sexual abuse of Musk. Musk and the company did not deny to Insider that the settlement was paid, but denied the underlying claim, Carlson said.
But Carlson said Insider reporters contacted Musk’s team to comment on the allegations before the politically charged tweets were posted.
“I contacted him personally sometimes,” Carlson added. “[I] said come and talk to us, we will hear from you. “Musk declined Insider’s offer to give him more time to respond, in Carlson.
Carlson said Insider has not yet faced any legal threats as a result of the publication of the story.
“We are prepared to defend history vigorously,” Carlson said. “It is the truth that we stand by our story that is based on documents and interviews. It speaks for itself.”
He also said that Insider will continue to pursue the story.
“We are going to look for more documents. We are going to pursue any clues that are available to us,” Carlson said. “And when there is more to say, we say it.”
CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter asked Carlson if there was ever a moment’s hesitation in publishing a piece about the richest man in the world.
“It’s a little questionable given his enormous influence and wealth,” Carlson said. “We had to be safe, we had to be solid on this and we have great support in our ownership.”
