Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is facing serious allegations of financial retaliation against his alleged son with conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, according to her legal team. On March 21, 2025, St. Clair’s attorneys accused Musk of substantially reducing child support payments for the six-month-old child, identified as R.S.C., after she filed for sole custody in a New York court. The claims have sparked a heated public feud, raising questions about Musk’s responsibilities as a father and his approach to personal disputes, especially as he navigates his high-profile role in the Trump administration.
St. Clair, a 26-year-old MAGA influencer and author of the anti-trans children’s book Elephants Are Not Birds, first announced on February 14, 2025, that she had given birth to Musk’s son in September 2024. She claimed the child was conceived during a January 2024 trip to Saint Barthélemy, following a romantic relationship that began in May 2023 when Musk allegedly reached out to her via DMs. According to court documents, Musk initially acknowledged paternity in private messages, including one where he wrote, “I want to knock you up again,” and another stating, “Well, we do have a legion of kids to make.” However, St. Clair alleges that Musk has been largely absent from the child’s life, meeting him only three times for a total of 3.5 hours, with the last visit being a 30-minute meeting in November 2024.
The situation escalated when St. Clair filed two petitions in the New York Supreme Court on February 21, seeking sole custody and a court-ordered paternity test to legally establish Musk as the father. Her legal team, led by Karen Rosenthal of Bikel Rosenthal & Schanfield LLP, stated that they had attempted to resolve the matter privately, but Musk’s representatives were unresponsive. “Elon Musk has financially retaliated against his own child and reduced his financial support substantially and unilaterally,” Rosenthal told People magazine. “He did this after Ashley was forced to bring this matter to court, when he refused to respond to her many private attempts to resolve this matter without publicity.”
The allegations of financial retaliation came to a head when St. Clair sold her $100,000 Tesla Model S on March 29, claiming that Musk had cut her child support by 60%, leaving her unable to cover expenses for her two children, including a three-year-old son from a previous relationship. In a video captured by the Daily Mail, St. Clair explained, “I’m selling it because I need to make up for the 60 percent cut that Elon made to our son’s child support.” She further accused Musk of using financial control as a “modus operandi” to silence women who speak out, a claim that has resonated with some observers given Musk’s history of contentious relationships with the mothers of his children.
Musk, who has 13 other children with three women—Justine Wilson, Grimes, and Shivon Zilis—responded to the allegations on March 31 via X, denying the claims of retaliation. In a reply to far-right activist Laura Loomer, who called St. Clair a “gold digger,” Musk wrote, “I don’t know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out. No court order is needed. Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year.” St. Clair fired back, accusing Musk of refusing a paternity test before their child was born and claiming he reduced support to “punish me for ‘disobedience.’” She added, “America needs you to grow up, you petulant man-child,” highlighting the personal animosity that has come to define their dispute.
The legal battle has drawn significant attention, not least because of Musk’s role as a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been linked to federal layoffs and protests against Tesla, contributing to a 13% drop in the company’s stock in Q1 2025. Critics on X have called Musk’s alleged actions “despicable,” with some labeling him a “deadbeat dad,” while others have questioned St. Clair’s motives, accusing her of seeking attention. The controversy also comes amid strained family dynamics for Musk, with his estranged daughter Vivian Wilson recently calling him a “pathetic man-child” in a Teen Vogue interview.
As the case moves forward, with Musk ordered to appear in court over the custody issues, the allegations of financial retaliation have cast a shadow over his public image. St. Clair’s legal team continues to push for transparency, with Rosenthal noting, “Given that Mr. Musk is dedicated to transparency in government, it would be helpful if he administered his own life by the same principles.” For now, the dispute remains a stark reminder of the personal challenges behind Musk’s larger-than-life persona, with a child’s well-being caught in the crossfire of a high-stakes legal and public relations battle.
