Musk, a documentary about billionaire Elon Musk and his influence on politics, is set to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on September 8 before hitting the 2026 movie calendar next month. Academy Award winner Alex Gibney’s film is nearly four hours long and will undoubtedly dive into the different aspects of Musk’s life. That includes the perspective of at least one of the mothers of Elon Musk’s children, who alleges she was offered $40 million to stay quiet.
Elon Musk has fathered 14 children — some of whom have unusual names, like X Æ A-Xii — with four different women. One of those mothers, Ashley St. Clair, spoke out ahead of Musk’s festival premiere and said she was offered money to not participate in the documentary. St. Clair said, per Deadline:
On my end, I was offered the opportunity not to speak for $40 million. And so when you’re offered something like that, it really causes a debate in your head about what your speech means and how valuable that is. Why do they want to offer me this amount of money to not speak?
She went on to say that while Elon Musk’s relationships, in general, are complicated, his most complicated relationship is with the truth. Ashley St. Clair said despite the large amount of money she was allegedly offered, she declined, choosing to participate in Alex Gibney’s documentary anyway. Why? She explained:
I think most importantly I want to set the example for my kids that you should never take being materially comfortable over speaking the truth.
This isn’t the first time Ashley St. Clair has said she's been offered millions for her silence. Following the birth of her and Elon Musk's son Romulus, the Wall Street Journal reported that St. Clair was reportedly offered $15 million for “a home and living expenses” and then $100,000 a month until Romulus turned 21, allegedly on the condition that her son be kept a secret.
The mother allegedly turned down that deal as well, due to alleged stipulations including Elon Musk’s name be left off the birth certificate, no support being guaranteed if their son got sick, and no trust fund or life insurance payment if Musk died before Romulus turned 21.
Ashley St. Clair also would have been prohibited from speaking in retaliation or in a disparaging way about the richest person on the planet if she signed the documents reportedly given to her by Jared Birchall, who she called Musk’s “fixer.”
Elon Musk did not participate in Alex Gibney’s film, calling it a “hit piece” on X (Twitter) — which prompted the filmmaker to respond: “How would you know?” You can see the teaser trailer for Musk below:
In addition to Ashley St. Clair’s apparent participation in the documentary, Elon Musk’s first ex-wife, Justine Musk, will reportedly also be featured. We’ll undoubtedly hear more about the film following its festival premiere, and then we can all catch it when Musk hits theaters on Friday, October 16.
