TORONTO — Despite not seeing the new documentary “Musk,” that didn’t stop infamous attorney Alex Spiro from telling the film’s producers, five days before its Venice premiere, that they were “on formal legal notice.”
Spiro (rhymes with pyromaniac) is known for representing the dregs of society, including rap pariah Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Most recently, Spiro and his client Shawn Carter have been facing escalating scrutiny, for an alleged intimidation and cover-up campaign for allegedly raping a “13 year-old-girl” in 2000, with close associate Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Interestingly, both Alex Spiro and Elon Musk have something in common: both are referenced extensively in the DOJ released Jeffrey Epstein files. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list, below. Based on critics research suggesting Epstein ran a sophisticated blackmail network, which included Sean Combs, many are questioning Spiro’s role, and whether Musk is somehow involved.
The connections are numerous and deep: Musk’s ex Claire Boucher, also known as musician Grimes, signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2013. Grimes stated that Musk “became unrecognizable,” earlier this year, following a protracted custody case.
But first, we analyze Spiro’s latest effort to stifle free speech.
No Sympathy for the Devil
The Sept. 3 letter to Jigsaw Productions, first confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, targets one passage in Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary. Ashley St. Clair, who has a child with Musk, describes text messages he sent her on Oct. 6, 2024, a month before the election. Musk wrote that “tomorrow we unleash the anomaly in the matrix,” then explained he meant “‘Lasers’ from space” and that he had “over 10 thousand lasers in space right now.” NPR obtained and authenticated the texts.
Spiro’s complaint is what the film lets viewers infer. “Starlink was not connected to vote tabulation,” he wrote. “Election officials in multiple states, independent cybersecurity researchers, and fact-checkers publicly refuted the Starlink vote-rigging claim in November 2024, and nothing since has revived it.” The lasers, he said, are the links Starlink satellites use to talk to one another. “Defamation does not require an express accusation.”
The letter accuses Gibney of refusing to screen the film or fact-check it with Musk’s team. “This project did not begin as an inquiry,” Spiro wrote. “It began with a conclusion.” It names Gibney, Jigsaw, HBO, Bleecker Street and Universal, TheWrap reported.
“Fairy Dust Letters”
Jigsaw answered that “the right to engage in open debate and fact-based examinations of powerful public figures is protected by the first amendment,” a right it said should be defended by “the associates of Elon Musk, who has proclaimed himself to be a ‘free speech absolutist.’“
St. Clair was blunter. “They are more likely to colonize Mars than win a defamation case against Alex Gibney,” she told NPR. “Alex Spiro is sending fairy dust letters with obtuse legalese.”
Musk, on X, called the director “Gutless Gibney,” said the film was “boring af” and described it as “a hit piece that misses.” Gibney told a Toronto International Film Festival audience Sunday that he had reached out to Musk repeatedly. “With the exception of his remarks on Twitter, we received nothing back,” he said. Musk declined to be interviewed, so the film uses an AI-generated avatar that speaks only his own recorded words.
One Scandal After Another (The Talented Mr. Spiro)
Spiro, a Quinn Emanuel partner, is the lawyer a certain ilk of celebrity calls: Musk, Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, Eric Adams, Jake Paul. Readers of this site know him from the Ray J affair, in which he sued the whistleblower for Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner and, as we previously reported, emailed warnings to blogs covering Ray J’s claims.
Spiro’s own pattern of misconduct and shady associations have drawn scrutiny:
- Texas, 2024. Lawyers for Benjamin Brody, who sued Musk for defamation, asked a Travis County judge to sanction Spiro for appearing at Musk’s March 27 deposition without a Texas license or court permission. The motion called his conduct “astonishingly unprofessional.” Our reporting is here and here.
- Spiro Impersonated a Police Officer. The New York Post reported that after leaving the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 2013, Spiro flashed his old badge at a Miami conference, claimed to head a “homicide bureau” that does not exist, and used the badge to enter a restricted courthouse area. We revisited the story in August 2025.
- Harvey Weinstein. As an associate to Benjamin Brafman on Harvey Weinstein’s defense, Spiro was accused by accuser Melissa Thompson of obtaining her audio and video evidence by falsely claiming the lawyers “were working for the victims,” we reported.
- Framing of Torey Lanez. Spiro has also been blamed, loudly and repeatedly, for the imprisonment of Tory Lanez. The rapper was convicted in December 2022 of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet and is serving a 10-year sentence. Spiro was Megan’s lawyer, and Lanez’s camp has cast him as the architect of the case. Moments after the verdict, Lanez’s father stood outside the courtroom and blamed “the whole wicked system at Roc Nation,” naming Spiro, Jay-Z and Desiree Perez. Lanez himself has said he never got a fair trial and accused his own lawyers, including Shawn Chapman Holley, of working with Roc Nation.
- The Epstein files. Justice Department records released this year show Jeffrey Epstein in April 2019 weighing whether to “hire burk and spiro to deal with civil” matters and noting “Alex Spiro and Bannon coming at 4 tomorrow,” per our review. Spiro is referred to as a “stone cold killer” in Epstein’s emails.
- Jay-Z v. Buzbee. Spiro’s extortion and defamation suit against attorney Tony Buzbee on Jay-Z’s behalf was dismissed in 2025. Buzbee had sued Roc Nation for allegedly soliciting his former clients to file claims against him. Recently, Jay-Z’s attorneys lost his appeal against Buzbee, with the judges ruling that the ’13 year-old-girl’ victim seemed threatened and the recordings appeared coerced.
The Epstein Shuffle: Musk and Spiro Linked
Both the man threatening the lawsuit and the lawyer writing the letter appear in the Justice Department’s Epstein files. Musk’s name is attached to hundreds of documents, most of them emails from 2012 to 2014 in which Epstein courted him with invitations to his Caribbean island, Musk replied “Sounds good, will try to make it,” asked what dates worked “between Dec 23 and 30,” and told Epstein the helicopter party would be “probably just Talulah and me.” In February 2013, Epstein’s assistant emailed passports for “all 3 girls” before Epstein toured SpaceX with them. Spiro surfaces later and in a different role. In November 2018, a correspondent whose messages track Steve Bannon’s told Epstein that he had brought “alex spiro— his NYC partner, stone cold killer” to an interview with congressional staff. In January 2019, Bannon told Epstein that “alex spiro and burck both have worked with Ben and say Harvey can’t handle that he is going away for 20 years.” That April, Epstein asked Kathryn Ruemmler whether he should “hire burke and Spiro to deal with civil,” then told Brad Karp that “alex Spiro and bannon” were coming at 4 p.m. the next day. A calendar notice on Epstein’s account confirms the appointment.
Alex Spiro in the Epstein Files:
EFTA00782373, Data Set 9, Nov. 19-20, 2018. iMessages from Epstein’s device. A redacted correspondent, likely Bannon, describes an interview by “Members or staff.” Epstein asks whether “burke” was allowed in. Reply: “Staff ::: took alex spiro— his NYC partner, stone cold killer.” Later: “No democrats– spiro also big dem.”
EFTA01211646, Data Set 9, Jan. 20, 2019. iMessage: “Yes alex spiro and burck both have worked with Ben and say Harvey can’t handle that he is going away for 20 years.” Sender redacted here.
EFTA01615580, Data Set 10, Jan. 18-20, 2019. The same exchange as a labeled Bannon-Epstein chat log. Epstein: “Harvey Weinstein, like Donald can’t find anyone to be his lawyer.” Bannon gives the Spiro-and-Burck reply. Not in Smith’s articles.
EFTA02635777, Data Set 11, April 1, 2019. Epstein to Kathy Ruemmler: “bannon thinks i should hire burke and Spiro to deal with civil? thoughts.”
EFTA02635657, Data Set 11, April 4, 2019. Epstein to Brad Karp: “today alex Spiro and bannon coming at 4 = tomoorw ruemmler woody and bannon at 3.” Not cited by ID in Smith’s articles.
EFTA02635543, Data Set 11, April 4, 2019. Google Calendar notice on Epstein’s account: “spiro 4 pm wolfe.”
Elon Musk in the Epstein Files:
EFTA00807557, DS 9, undated. ProSolar Tesla Powerpack proposal for Little St. James.
EFTA02701531, DS 11, Sept. 25, 2012. Island invitation. Musk: “Sounds good, will try to make it.”
EFTA02701849, DS 11, Oct. 4, 2012. SolarCity for the island.
EFTA01893055, DS 10, Oct. 2012. Musk says he and his wife will be in the Caribbean at year end.
EFTA02702478, DS 11, Nov. 2, 2012. “What’s a good time to come over between Dec 23 and 30?”
EFTA01977056, DS 10, Nov. 24-25, 2012. Helicopter headcount. Musk: “Probably just Talulah and me.”
EFTA01910833, DS 10, Dec. 25, 2012. “Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year.”
EFTA02033698, DS 10, Dec. 2012. Same St. Barts party exchange.
EFTA02147114, DS 10, Feb. 22, 2013. Assistant: “all 3 girls passports” ahead of the SpaceX visit.
EFTA02146212, DS 10, Feb. 25, 2013. Epstein “and 3 of his assistants” at SpaceX at 1 p.m.
EFTA00955694, DS 9, Feb. 26, 2013. Thanks for the tour. “You would have had fun at xmas.”
EFTA01134995, DS 9, July 12, 2013. Photo of a woman in a SpaceX shirt.
EFTA01956458, DS 10, Sept. 2013. UN-week invitation; Musk declines.
EFTA01966640, DS 10, 2013. Ehud Barak and Tesla in Israel.
EFTA00706928, DS 9, Nov. 23, 2013. Christmas invite with Woody Allen. Musk: “Yes.”
EFTA01944855, DS 10, Nov. 2013. Same thread.
EFTA02338119, DS 11, Dec. 2013. “When should we head to your island on the 2nd?”
EFTA01944725, DS 10, Dec. 2013. Epstein cancels.
EFTA00649662, DS 9, Sept. 2014. St. Barts “again”? Musk: “Don’t know.”
EFTA00999842, DS 9, late 2014. “Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)”
Is Spiro Attempting to Chill and Suppress Free Speech?
NPR spoke to Genevieve Lakier, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.
“The threat of initiating a lawsuit is used all the time to try to chill and suppress speech,” Lakier said. “It sounds like Musk doesn’t like the documentary, so he wants to do whatever he can to shut it down and intimidate distributors. It would be a much more impoverished democracy if we weren’t allowed to make documentaries about public figures that were critical of them.”
“Musk” drew a five-minute ovation in Venice and premiered in North America at TIFF on Monday. Bleecker Street opens it in theaters Oct. 16. HBO Max holds streaming rights, and that is where Gibney sees the real risk: Warner Bros. Discovery is the target of a takeover by Paramount Skydance, backed by Larry Ellison, an investor in Musk’s Twitter deal. “I do worry about the storm clouds on the horizon,” Gibney said. “But so far, so good.”
Spiro’s letter closed with a warning: “If not, we will proceed accordingly.” No suit had been filed as of Wednesday.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter (Sept. 10, Sept. 13), NPR, TheWrap, ABA Journal, Reuters, The Daily Beast, CNN, and Paul Smith’s reporting at Shockya.
This is an opinion article.
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