'I Was Terrified': College Grad, 22, Says Billionaire Elon Musk Ruined His Life After Fueling Conspiracy Theory
A young college grad revealed the harassment he faced after Elon Musk weighed in on a fake conspiracy theory involving him.
Nov. 21 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
A young Jewish man accused of being a neo-Nazi accused billionaire Elon Musk of turning his life upside down by fueling the conspiracy theories on social media, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Ben Brody, 22, had never told his story on camera until now, coming forward about the criticism he's faced online amid accusations of being an undercover agent involved in a dispute between two far-right extremist groups who were protesting a gay pride event.
Ben Brody, 22, had never told his story on camera until now.
"The person in the video resembled Ben, but even though it definitely was not him, the trolls thought they had found their man," CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan said while recounting the man's story.
On the night of June 24, Brody was far away in Riverside, California. The pride gathering was held in Portland, Oregon, following which online trolls suggested it must be a "false flag" event and that Brody could have been planted inside the neo-Nazi group to make them look bad.
He has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, seeking damages in excess of $1 million.
He has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, seeking damages in excess of $1 million.
Brody said he's desperate to clear his name and wants the Tesla CEO to apologize and retract the false claims about him.
While reflecting on the incident, Brody told O'Sullivan, "I started getting these text messages from my friends. 'You're accused of being a neo-Nazi fed, look at all this stuff that's being said about you.' And I was like, OK, this is just some prank."
Brody had even denied his involvement in a previous video, also releasing time-stamped CCTV footage to disprove the theories and confirm he was hundreds of miles away in California.
Brody is desperate to clear his name and wants the Tesla CEO to apologize and retract the false claims about him.
He said the harassment skyrocketed after Musk weighed in on the theories, having posted, "Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation."
At that point, the 22-year-old said he became increasingly worried. "I knew that this was snowballing, but once Elon Musk commented, I was like, 'boom, that's the final nail in the coffin,'" Brody shared.
Brody admitted he feared he wouldn't be able to graduate as some of the accounts messaging him were threatening to contact his university.
An attorney for Musk told CNN "we expect this case to be dismissed."
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According to the legal docs, Musk is "perhaps the most influential of all influencers, and his endorsement of the accusation against Ben galvanized other social media influencers and users to continue their attacks and harassment, as well as post accusations against Ben that will remain online forever."
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An attorney for Musk told CNN, "We expect this case to be dismissed." They now have until January 5, 2024, to file their response.
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