Los Angeles, California Billionaire businessman Elon Musk has launched a defamation lawsuit against Joy Behar, co-host of ABC’s daytime talk show The View, and the show is producers, requesting $70 million in damages in a startling legal escalation. Behar and the program are accused of making “false and malicious” claims about Musk that damaged his reputation and caused serious personal and professional harm, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in a California court on March 20, 2025. This high-stakes court dispute highlights the controversial relationship between free speech, media accountability, and public personas and represents a dramatic confrontation between one of the most well-known innovators in the world and a mainstay of American television.
The lawsuit is based on remarks Behar made about Musk’s increasing power in the political and economic arenas during a recent episode of The View, in which she called him a “pro-apartheid” and “enemy of the United States.” Behar’s comments, made during a contentious segment concerning Musk’s relationship with President Donald Trump, implied that his apartheid-era South African upbringing had influenced his poor outlook on the world. According to the court document, Behar said, “He was born in South Africa during the apartheid era, so he had that mentality going on—he was pro-apartheid, as I understand it.” Lawyers for Musk contend that these allegations are unfounded, divisive, and meant to discredit him, citing Behar’s subsequent on-air admission that “I do not actually know for sure if he was” before jokingly adding, “So do not be suing me, okay, Elon?”
During the apartheid era, which saw racial segregation until the early 1990s, Musk, 53, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971. At the age of 17, he fled the nation to study at a Canadian institution before obtaining U.S. citizenship by naturalization. Although Musk has periodically discussed his early years, he has never openly supported apartheid, and his family has denied allegations that he was associated with the system.
On X, his mother, Maye Musk, once stated that vocally criticizing apartheid in South Africa at the time could result in jail time, implying the family negotiated a difficult situation rather than condoned it. Citing this background, Musk’s lawsuit claims that Behar’s remarks manufactured a story for dramatic effect and disregarded historical nuances. The complaint has sparked a flurry of responses. Musk’s supporters, especially on X, have come together in support of him, with messages denouncing Behar’s comments as “disgraceful” and encouraging him to “hold the media accountable.”
Meanwhile, the lawsuit is viewed by some as an effort to stifle free speech. One X user wrote, “Joy Behar was expressing an opinion, not a legal fact—suing over this is ludicrous.” According to legal experts, the case may depend on whether Behar’s remarks fall within the protection of U.S. law as protected opinions or if they constitute defamation because they convey unsubstantiated claims as fact.
