Updated

Updated · Business Insider · Sep 17

Universal Confirms International Release of 4-Hour Musk Documentary as U.S. Debut Set for Oct. 9

Updated

Updated · Business Insider · Sep 17

Universal Confirms International Release of 4-Hour Musk Documentary as U.S. Debut Set for Oct. 9

Q: What explosive claims in Alex Gibney's documentary pushed Elon Musk's legal team to threaten a major Hollywood studio?

The main trigger was the documentary’s suggestion that Musk may have used or discussed using Starlink in connection with the 2024 election. According to multiple reports, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro objected to a scene built around comments from Ashley St. Clair, who says Musk told her before the election he would “unleash the anomaly in the matrix” and that he had “10,000 lasers in space.” In the film, that remark is presented in a way Musk’s legal team says could lead viewers to infer that Starlink satellites somehow helped affect election outcomes. Spiro’s notice argues that implication is false and defamatory. He said Starlink “was not connected to vote tabulation,” and that public reporting, election officials, and independent cybersecurity researchers had already rejected claims that Starlink was used to alter votes. He also said Musk’s “lasers in space” comment referred to Starlink’s inter-satellite laser links, not election activity. Beyond that disputed sequence, the film is broadly critical of Musk, portraying him as a powerful figure who bends facts to his advantage and examining issues including Tesla self-driving safety claims, his business conduct, personal relationships, and political influence. But the legal threat reported before the Venice premiere appears to have centered most sharply on the Starlink-election insinuation, which Musk’s camp viewed as the most potentially actionable claim.

3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Sep 17

Universal said it remains committed to releasing Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour Elon Musk documentary in theaters outside the U.S. and is now working through an international rollout plan.
The statement rebuts reports earlier Thursday that the studio was reconsidering the film because its highly critical portrayal of Musk was seen as politically sensitive and vulnerable to blowback.
Bleecker Street will open the film in U.S. theaters on Oct. 9, while Universal has not yet announced overseas dates or market-by-market release details.
The dispute has drawn extra attention because Comcast has faced years of attacks from Donald Trump and an FCC investigation, feeding concerns that media companies may soften decisions to avoid angering Trump allies.