Documentarian Alex Gibney Says Elon Musk Ignored Outreach Over Legal Threat
Alex Gibney told a Toronto International Film Festival audience that Elon Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment after his legal team sent a cease-and-desist letter about the upcoming documentary.
Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney said he attempted to contact Elon Musk several times after Musk’s attorney sent a legal letter alleging the film misrepresented facts about the billionaire. "I reached out immediately… but he clearly wasn’t interested in talking," Gibney told a keynote audience at the Toronto International Film Festival. He added that, aside from Musk’s Twitter remarks, the team received no response.
Gibney, whose four-hour documentary "Musk" will be released theatrically by Bleecker Street in October and streamed on HBO Max, said the film has been independently fact-checked and that he is confident in its accuracy. He expressed concern that the film’s distribution could be affected by ongoing corporate negotiations, noting that HBO Max is currently involved in a takeover battle between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount, which includes investors linked to Musk.
Attorney Alex Spiro, representing Musk, had previously sent the cease-and-desist letter, claiming the film suggested Musk used Starlink satellites to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Musk later dismissed the documentary on his social platform X as a "boring … hit piece."
Jigsaw Productions, the film’s production company, issued a statement defending the documentary’s journalistic approach and invoking First Amendment protections. The film, which examines Musk’s activities across electric vehicles, space travel, social media, and artificial intelligence, will debut at the Venice Film Festival before its North American premiere at TIFF.
During his remarks, Gibney also referenced other subjects in his work, including the late scholar Edward Said, and highlighted past documentaries such as "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "The Armstrong Lie."