Elon Musk said Monday (Jan 12) he plans to file for full custody of his child with conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair, shortly after St. Clair voiced support for the transgender community.
Musk, 54, shared his plans on his social media platform when a commenter asked him about St. Clair’s own tweet. She had been asked if her feelings toward trans people had changed, following her 2022 book, Elephants Are Not Birds, which mocks the concept of gender fluidity.
“I feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son’s sister more pain,” the 27-year-old St. Clair wrote, referring to Musk’s daughter, Vivian.
“(I don’t really know) how to make amends for many of these things but I have been trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans community that I’ve hurt,” she continued.
Musk, who has at least 14 children with four women, famously despises the trans community and referred to Vivian as “dead” in 2024.
“I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy,” Musk shared on his platform. St. Clair has made no public declaration of an intention to transition her child.
Last year, Musk and St. Clair went through a high-profile paternity and custody battle after she named him as the father of her son, Romulus, in February. Musk reportedly offered her US$15mil (RM60.8mil) to keep quiet about the kid but then publicly volunteered to take a paternity test.
Beyond their personal quarrels, St. Clair criticised Musk last week for his Grok AI program, which a social media user had used to sexualise an image of St. Clair when she was 14 years old.
“I felt horrified, I felt violated, especially seeing my toddler’s backpack in the back of it,” she told the Guardian.
Amid widespread outrage, Musk limited the feature to paying users, but the ability is still expected to face scrutiny from global regulators. However, such a crackdown is not expected in the US, as Musk appears to have recently mended fences with President Donald Trump and his administration. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
