Elon Musk’s lawyers have quoted a well-known rapper in a recent court filing, having turned to Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ for inspiration.
Musk is hoping to regain full control of his Twitter account after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposed a ‘consent decree’ that requires him to seek legal approval about Tesla. Back in 2018, he’d tweeted to say he was ‘considering taking Tesla private’, and that funding had been ‘secured’ - a ballsy move that saw him slapped with a $20m (£16m) fine by the US securities regulator.
While Musk tweeted again at the time to say it had all been ‘worth it’, he’s now looking to be released from the shackles of social media pre-approval – with the words of Eminem now being used to fight his case.
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In the latest legal filing, lawyer Alex Spiro quoted lyrics from the rapper’s 2002 song ‘Without Me’ to argue that the SEC deal violates the billionaire’s First Amendment rights.
"The (SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; They tried to shut me down," he said, as a riff on Slim Shady’s original lyrics: "The FCC won’t let me be or let me be me so let me see / They tried to shut me down on MTV.”
"The First Amendment requires that agencies proceed with caution when constitutional rights are at stake, not seek to pursue any and all novel theories that broaden their authority at the cost of individual freedom," Spiro wrote.
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The filing has also listed the song’s title and artist under the ‘authorities’ section on the brief.
Responding to a news article about the court filing last week, Musk joked about Eminem: “I mean we’re basically identical.”
He added: “A few differences maybe...”
When it filed a lawsuit against Musk in 2018, the SEC claimed the statements he had made on Twitter were 'false and misleading', and that he 'knew or was reckless in not knowing' that what he was saying was not true.
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Musk said in a statement at the time: “This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way.”
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Jess Hardiman