- SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell has defended Elon Musk following allegations of sexual misconduct.
- The top female executive said she doesn’t believe the allegations against Musk that Insider first reported.
- In a company-wide email obtained by CNBC, Shotwell said she would “never” comment on legal matters.
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SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell defended founder Elon Musk in a staff email last week after insiders reported that the company had paid a SpaceX flight attendant $250,000 in 2018 after she claimed Musk exposed himself and offered her sex.
“Let me be clear that SpaceX does not tolerate harassment of any kind. I say ZERO tolerance. We firmly believe that everyone at SpaceX deserves to be treated with respect. And any allegation of harassment is taken very seriously, regardless of who is involved. HR thoroughly investigates all claims brought to its attention and takes appropriate disciplinary action,” Shotwell wrote in a Friday email to employees obtained by Insider.
“Personally, I think the allegations are false; not because I work for Elon, but because I’ve worked closely with him for 20 years and have never seen or heard anything resembling these allegations,” she continued. “Anyone who knows Elon like I do knows that he would never condone or condone this allegedly inappropriate behavior.”
Musk denied the sexual misconduct allegations to Insider last week, saying there was “a lot more to this story,” which he described as a “politically motivated hit song.”
“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this probably isn’t the first time in my entire 30-year career that this has come to light,” he wrote.
Neither Musk nor SpaceX’s legal team denied that the company paid the flight attendant a $250,000 settlement.
In Shotwell’s email to employees, she also said that she would “never comment on legal matters related to employment issues.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment on Shotwell’s email.
A friend of the flight attendant told Insider Musk asked her to come to his room for a “full-body massage” during a flight in late 2016. When she arrived, the flight attendant found that Musk was “completely naked except for a sheet covering the lower half of his body.” According to a statement signed by her friend in support of the flight attendant’s claim, shared with Insider, the flight attendant said Musk “bared his genitals,” then touched them and “offered to buy her a horse if they “do more.” would”. “
The orderly declined and continued with the massage, the statement said. The flight attendant told her friend that after turning down Musk’s advances, her job opportunities began to diminish. In 2018, the employee hired an employment lawyer and sent a complaint to SpaceX’s human resources department, explaining the incident.
The company quickly resolved the complaint after an arbitration meeting that Musk personally attended, agreeing to pay $250,000 in exchange for the companion’s promise that she would not sue the claims, according to the previously reported story by Insider .
Female SpaceX employees have also complained about a culture of sexual harassment at the company in the past. In December, former SpaceX engineer Ashley Kosak wrote that she “had to report several separate incidents of sexism to Human Resources,” although it’s unclear whether Musk was even involved or aware of Kosak’s allegations.