Musk Threatens Lawsuit Over Alex Gibney's New Documentary

Elon Musk threatened a defamation lawsuit against director Alex Gibney before the release of "Musk," a four-hour documentary that Ars Technica's Jennifer Ouellette reviewed on Oct. 11, 2026, calling it a film that "feels like two different films" — one tighter than the other. Gibney, an Oscar-winning documentarian whose past subjects include Enron and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, built the film around Musk's rise from entrepreneur to political power broker, and Ouellette's review says it is "compelling but overlong" for an audience already steeped in Musk coverage.

What is the new Musk documentary and who made it?

"Musk" is directed by Alex Gibney, whose credits include "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Taxi to the Dark Side," and films on WikiLeaks, Lance Armstrong, and the opioid epidemic, according to Ars Technica. The review describes Gibney's approach as presenting Musk "as more of a Gilded Age confidence man, rejiggered for the 21st century: an investor cosplaying as an inventor whose real genius is pumping stocks and dazzling investors and the public alike with visions of a high-tech utopian future."

What does the film say about Musk's business record?

The documentary moves through Tesla and the fatalities linked to its driver-assistance systems, SpaceX, Starlink, Musk's purchase of Twitter, his pivot from warning about artificial intelligence risk to building Grok, his embrace of Donald Trump, and the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, per Ars Technica's summary of the film's contents. Ouellette writes that the film's first half — covering Musk's early entrepreneurial years with archival footage and interviews — made her miss "that public version of Musk, even if it was carefully cultivated," a reaction that signals how differently the film treats Musk's earlier and later careers.

Who did Gibney interview for the documentary?

The film includes interviews with Musk's ex-wife Justine Musk, journalist Kara Swisher, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, AI researcher Geoffrey Hinton, former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair — who says she had a child with Musk — along with writer Cory Doctorow, astrophysicist Adam Becker, and author Sam Harris, according to the review. Musician David Byrne co-wrote and performed an original song for the soundtrack, titled "Let Me Sell You a Dream," which Ars Technica notes incorporates Musk's own words.

Why did Musk threaten a lawsuit before release?

Gibney has a history of courting controversy, and Ars Technica reports that "even before Musk's release, the film drew the ire of its subject and threats of a defamation lawsuit." The review also notes "as yet unfounded" rumors that Universal Pictures was reconsidering a theatrical release in international markets, though no studio statement confirming that decision appears in the sourcing. Whether the threatened suit proceeds — and whether distribution plans change internationally — remain open questions the review does not resolve.

By the numbers

• 4 hours: the documentary's total runtime, which Ars Technica's review says contributes to the film feeling like "two different films."
• 14 (possibly more): the number of children attributed to Musk in the film, per the review.
• 2005 and 2007: the years Gibney earned his first Oscar nomination ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room") and his Oscar win ("Taxi to the Dark Side"), respectively, establishing his track record before taking on Musk.

What is different between the film's two halves?

Ouellette's core critique is structural: the first half, built on archival footage and biographical detail, reads as the stronger film, while the back half — covering Twitter, DOGE, and Musk's political turn — apparently shifts tone enough that the review treats it as a near-separate production. For readers already following Tesla's driver-assistance litigation, SpaceX launches, or Musk's political activity closely, Ars Technica's assessment is blunt: "there's not much new here for Ars readers," even as the film is likely to provoke strong reactions from both supporters and critics of Musk.

What to watch

• Whether Musk's threatened defamation lawsuit against Gibney or the film's distributor is actually filed.
• Whether Universal Pictures confirms or denies reports about scaling back international theatrical release.
• How the documentary performs with award-season voters given Gibney's prior Oscar wins for similarly contentious subjects.
• Reactions from people featured in the film, including Justine Musk, Kara Swisher, and Ashley St. Clair, once wider audiences see their interviews.
• Whether Tesla, SpaceX, or Musk's other companies issue formal responses to specific claims made in the film.

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