Justine Musk says she learned the meaning of gaslighting through her marriage to Elon Musk.
Justine, 54, made the claim in the new documentary “Musk,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday. The four-hour film, directed by Alex Gibney, features her account of the eight-year union that produced six children before ending in 2008.
“He was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking,” Justine said in the documentary, per People. She likened his manner of speaking to her to that of a boss addressing an employee.
One alleged exchange came at their January 2000 wedding. Justine recalled her then-husband telling her he was the “alpha in [the] relationship” as they danced. She had previously shared this anecdote in a 2010 Marie Claire essay, writing, “I shrugged it off, just as I would later shrug off signing the postnuptial agreement … Elon’s judgment overruled mine, and he was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking.”
The former couple’s children include twins Griffin and Vivian, 22, and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian, 20. Their firstborn, Nevada, died at 10 weeks old in 2002. In the documentary, Justine disputed Elon’s previous social media claim that he held Nevada during the infant’s death, insisting she was the one who did so.
Justine also addressed her ex-husband’s estrangement from their transgender daughter, Vivian. Elon declared in 2024 that Vivian had been “killed by the woke-mind virus.” According to Justine, Elon “never tried to repair things” with their child, as that is “not in his nature.” She claimed he did, however, instruct her to tell Vivian, “I’ll always love her.” Justine further alleged that Elon cut off Vivian’s health insurance.
The documentary also touches on Elon’s reported insecurities about his appearance. Justine shared that he allegedly told her, “I can’t look cool or hip, because I need to look like an engineer.”
Elon did not participate in the film. He tweeted in 2023 that it was a “hit piece.” His representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Justine has largely remained silent about her marriage since the divorce, while Elon went on to wed and divorce Talulah Riley twice and have eight more children with Grimes, Shivon Zilis and Ashley St. Clair.
St. Clair, 28, said she participated in the documentary after turning down a $40 million NDA. The political commentator shared an alleged text from Elon in which he expressed a desire to welcome a “legion of children before the civil war.”
Justine claimed in the documentary that Elon refers to the mothers of his children as “breeders.”
Monday’s teaser for “Musk,” set for release on Oct. 16, promised an “unflinching look at Earth’s most unchecked man.”