There are few public figures more divisive than Elon Musk.
And the Tesla CEO probably wouldn’t have it any other way.
Musk has an army of devoted fanboys who defend his every move, but he’s also attracted a good deal of criticism for insensitive remarks that he obviously thinks of as harmless trolling.
Some of the most controversial of these remarks have had to do with Musk’s views on gender identity.
Although tweets such as “pronouns suck” seem to indicate that Musk has given very little thought to the matter at all.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Musk’s trans daughter has decided that she wants nothing to do with him.
Eighteen-year-old Vivian Jenna Wilson submitted a petition for a change of name.
On the application, she cited the following reasons for the desired change:
“Gender identity and the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.”
Vivian is one of Musk’s eight children.
It’s been rumored that the billionaire is also father to Amber Heard’s daughter, but neither party has confirmed those reports.
Little is known about Musk’s first marriage to Justine Wilson, who is mother to Vivian.
The teen has taken her mother’s last name, seemingly in order to further distance herself from her father.
After he and Wilson parted ways, Musk married and divorced actress Talulah Riley.
The couple divorced two years later, in 2012, before remarrying in 2013, and divorcing for the final time a year later.
Musk has two children with singer Grimes, whom he dated from 2018 to 2022.
Grimes once publicly rebuked Musk’s transphobic sentiments.
“I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a [call]. I cannot support hate,” she wrote following his 2020 tweet about pronouns.
“Please stop this. I know this isn’t your heart.”
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A few months later, Musk doubled down on the sentiment with a meme (below) mocking the concept of putting preferred pronouns in one’s social media bio
“I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare,” Musk later clarified.
Grimes is now dating trans activist Chelsea Manning.
Musk has lashed out at critics who have accused him of transphobia, pointing out that the Human Rights Campaign ranked Tesla as one of the best places for LGBTQ+ people to work.
However, when the same organization called for Musk to apologize for his pronoun comments, he refused.
“Elon Musk’s tweet mocking pronouns is exactly the opposite of what inclusive leadership looks like today,” HRC leadership tweeted.
“It’s also decidedly out of step with the best practices we advise companies. Musk should apologize.”
Musk is currently in talks to buy Twitter, and many opponents of the move believe that his outdated stances on important social issues make the 50-year-old a poor candidate for such an important role.
Whatever happens, it appears that Musk’s activity on the social media platform has already had a negative impact on his relationship with his daughter.
