Elon Musk’s Alleged Sexual Harassment Is Unlikely to Eliminate His Twitter Offer

Elon Musk’s initiatives to buy Twitter already appeared to be on shaky floor right after Musk’s funding seemed a lot less than safe and immediately after he erected new ailments about the range of spam accounts on the platform. Now, it surface allegations that he settled a sexual harassment accusation years ago, revealed Might 19 by posted May 19 by Insider, might further more jeopardize the deal.

The posting, mostly centered on the account of an unnamed good friend of the sufferer, alleges Musk, who serves as CEO of each Tesla and Place X, harassed a flight attendant who was contracted to do the job for SpaceX’s company jet fleet in 2016 and supplied to get her items in trade for sexual favors. Immediately after the worker turned down Musk’s proposal and claimed the incident to SpaceX’s human means division, SpaceX paid her a $250,000 severance fee in 2018 to settle the criticism and had her indication a non-disclosure settlement.

Musk in the beginning instructed Insider there’s “a whole lot extra to this tale, in accordance to the publication, and then in a collection of tweets late yesterday called the accusations “utterly untrue” and the story a “politically motivated hit piece” aimed to “interfere with the Twitter acquisition.”

Will the exposé eliminate the Twitter deal?

Community relations and lawful authorities have blended views about how the scandal could have an impact on Musk’s Twitter offer. Musk and Twitter have signed a preliminary acquisition deal that contain large fines if possibly celebration backs out. But regardless of whether the deal goes through will eventually be up to Musk and Twitter’s leadership.

Critical final decision makers might really feel unpleasant moving ahead with the offer if they imagine Musk’s scandal could hurt Twitter’s business, mentioned Kia Roberts, founder of Triangle Investigations, a legislation agency specializing in workplace misconduct investigation.

“The fallout from sexual harassment accusations can be deadly for a public determine,” Roberts mentioned. “Key stakeholders concerned in the Twitter offer may experience like the sexual harassment allegations could result in people boycotting Twitter. There are also very likely problems that these allegations could harm Twitter’s picture or end result in additional scandals.”

There has been sturdy backlash in opposition to Musk getting Twitter considering the fact that his declared his intention to acquire the social media company. Critics anxiety Musk’s non-public possession could make Twitter a platform that only promotes written content that he personally approves and the allegations might undermine the perception that Musk is capable of functioning Twitter in an moral manner, explained Michael Toebe, a public relations specialist who specializes in crisis management for corporations and folks.

“This may possibly direct to discussions about his business enterprise and personalized conduct,” said Toebe. “But I really do not see the report ruining his Twitter pursuit.”

It’s unclear whether or not Twitter’s management has engaged in any dialogue with Musk pertaining to the Insider exposé. Twitter and SpaceX didn’t respond to a ask for for remark.