Tesla CEO Elon Musk has broken his silence following conservative influencer Ashley St Clair's claim that he is the father of her five-month-old baby.
The billionaire reacted with a "Whoa" on X while responding to a post suggesting the 26-year-old had been "planning" for five years to have his child.
Ms St Clair announced on Friday that Mr Musk is the father of her baby, writing, "Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father," alongside the Latin phrase Alea iacta est (The die is cast).
She said that she had kept the information private for the safety of the child but decided to go public after learning that tabloids were preparing to break the story. "I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child's privacy and safety, but in recent days, it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause," she wrote.
Following Mr Musk's brief reaction, Ms St. Clair called him out for engaging with online speculation rather than responding directly to her. "Elon, we have been trying to communicate for the past several days, and you have not responded. When are you going to reply to us instead of publicly responding to smears from an individual who just posted photos of me in underwear at 15 years old?" she wrote in a now-deleted comment.
Her representative, Brian Glicklich, later confirmed that she and Mr Musk had been privately working on an agreement regarding co-parenting. "We are waiting for Elon to publicly acknowledge his parental role with Ashley, to end unwarranted speculation, and Ashley trusts that Elon intends to finish their agreement quickly, in the best interests of the wellbeing and security of the child they share," he said in a statement.
In other deleted posts, Ms St. Clair accused Mr Musk of replying to an X user who allegedly shared inappropriate photos of her as a minor, as per People Magazine. She claimed that the same account had been temporarily restricted by X's safety team for posting non-consensual images. Screenshots she shared appeared to show X's head of safety confirming the account was penalised for a week for violating platform rules.
Ms St. Clair also alleged that Mr Musk had recently asked her to have more children but was now choosing to engage with speculation rather than directly communicating with her.
Elon Musk, 52, has 12 other children with three women. He shares five children with his first wife, Justine Wilson - twins Vivian and Griffin, and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian. With musician Grimes, he has three children: X, Exa Dark Siderael, and Techno Mechanicus. Mr Musk and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis share twins Strider and Azure.
