Accusations of child sex abuse against Errol Musk, father to Elon Musk, are said to be a “significant factor” in the two’s estranged relationship in a newly published investigative piece from the New York Times.

The piece by Kirsten Grind and John Eligon, published Sept. 23, includes an excerpted statement from 79-year-old Errol, who called the allegations “false and nonsense in the extreme.” The claims against Errol, who has made headlines in the past with reports of fathering children with his adult step-daughter, date back to 1993 and are said to encompass accusations stemming from five of his children and stepchildren.

Elon, as is well-documented, has publicly criticized his father in the past. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2017, for example, he called Errol “a terrible human being,” adding that he’s done “almost every evil thing you could possibly think of.”

As of this writing, Elon does not appear to have publicly responded to the Times piece. In it, a 1993 incident is mentioned in which Errol’s stepdaughter, who was four years old at the time, reportedly told family members she was “touched” by Errol at their home. More recently, in 2023, another of Errol’s children, a son who was five at the time, reportedly informed family members he had been “groped” by his father.

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Monday’s Times piece also points to police and court records, noting that accusations against Errol spurred three police investigations, two of which were confirmed to have been concluded. There have been no convictions.

Complex has reached out to media reps for Tesla and SpaceX in an effort to obtain a comment from Elon Musk on the accusations against his father. This story may be updated.

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