Elon Musk’s ex-wife has called out the tech billionaire for a claim he made about their deceased child, publicly contradicting his version of events.
Justine Musk, the Tesla founder’s first wife, took aim at her ex over comments he made about their son Nevada, who died at just 10 weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
The Twitter CEO’s comments about Nevada came last week when he revealed the one person he would never let back on the social media platform.
Musk, 51, has been on a spree of reinstating the Twitter accounts of controversial figures, including Donald Trump, Kanye West and Andrew Tate.
But there was a notable absence from the list of the reinstated: Alex Jones.
Several Twitters users asked Musk if the US commentator, who founded the InfoWars website which has published conspiracy theories, would be able to rejoin the site.
Jones was ordered to pay a total of $US1.4 billion ($A2.08 billion) for defamatory falsehoods over claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting in Connecticut – which led to 27 deaths – was a “hoax”.
Jones, 48, claimed for years on his show that the shooting was “staged” by gun control activists and that the parents were “crisis actors,” but has since acknowledged it was “100 per cent real”.
Reinstating Jones’ Twitter account is where Musk appeared to draw the line, citing his own child’s death as one of the reasons why he would not be allowed back on the platform.
“My firstborn child died in my arms,” he tweeted.
“I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.”
However, his ex-wife later commented on the Twitter post discrediting Musk’s claims about their child, saying she was in fact the one holding Nevada in his final moments.
“A SIDS-related incident that put him on life support. He was declared brain dead,” Justine, 50, wrote.
“And not that it matters to anyone except me, because it is one of the most sacred and defining moments of my life, but I was the one who was holding him.”
She said she felt his “death rattle”, adding that the details around her son’s last moments were “really important” to her.
Musk and Justine were married for eight years and went on to have five other children together before divorcing in 2008.
The 50-year-old has previously spoken about her marriage to the tech billionaire and the devastating impact their son’s death had on her.
Writing for Maire Claire last year, the Canadian author revealed Nevada stopped breathing after she put him down for a nap in 2002.
“By the time the paramedics resuscitated him, he had been deprived of oxygen for so long that he was brain dead,” she wrote.
“He spent three days on life support in a hospital in Orange County before we made the decision to take him off it. I held him in my arms when he died.”
She said that Musk made it “clear” that he did not want to talk about their son’s death and accused her of being “emotionally manipulative” by grieving openly.
“I buried my feelings instead, coping with Nevada’s death by making my first visit to an IVF clinic less than two months later,” Justine wrote.
“Elon and I planned to get pregnant again as swiftly as possible.”
The pair ended up having twins and then triplets over the next few years.
“Nevada’s death sent me on a years-long inward spiral of depression and distraction that would be continuing today if one of our nannies hadn’t noticed me struggling,” she said.
“She approached me with the name of an excellent therapist. Dubious, I gave it a shot. In those weekly sessions, I began to get perspective on what had become my life.”
Justine is now “estranged” from her ex-husband, dealing with his assistant when it comes to matters relating to their children.
Musk confirms mass reinstatements on Twitter
Some of the most controversial right-wing figures will return to Twitter after Musk announced a “general amnesty” for all suspended accounts.
The Twitter CEO polled users asking, “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?”
Nearly 3.2 million people responded, with the overwhelming majority – 72.4 per cent – voting yes.
“The people have spoken,” Musk tweeted on Thursday.
“Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”
The billionaire used the same Latin phrase, which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God”, after reinstating the account of former president Donald Trump over the weekend.
He also polled users about that decision, receiving more than 15 million votes, with 51.8 per cent voting in favour.
Musk has already reinstated a number of banned accounts since completing his $US44 billion ($A66 billion) takeover last month, including satirical news website The Babylon Bee, undercover journalism organisation Project Veritas and Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.
He said last week that he would soon reveal how Twitter, under previous management, had unfairly targeted conservatives.
Responding to his poll, one user said: “Well whatever it decides to do, Twitter should be clear and consistent about its rules and penalties for breaking them, enforcement should be unbiased, and the mechanisms of enforcement shouldn’t be easily abused by people who have an agenda.”
Musk replied: “The more I learn, the worse it gets. The world should know the truth of what has been happening at Twitter. Transparency will earn the trust of the people.”
Another user said: “I heard from a primary source that political groups would regularly contact Twitter to deboost their candidates’ detractors and Twitter would happily do that. That seems to put the finger on the scale of democracy.”
Musk said: “It is objectively the case that ‘conservative’ political candidates were more negatively affected than ‘progressive’ candidates. Anyone using Twitter knows this. Question is simply one of magnitude.”