The New York Times defended its reporting on Elon Musk‘s drug use, after he claimed that the publication was “lying” in its article that claimed he was, among other things, “taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms.”
Over the weekend, Musk attacked the report from Kristen Grind and Megan Twohey, writing on X that “to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off. I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so on 𝕏, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”
The Times responded with a statement, “Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey’s thoroughly sourced report provides an important and fair look into Musk’s drug use and family conflicts. They interviewed a dozen people who have known or worked with him, and saw private text messages, legal documents and photographic evidence.”
They also addressed any notion that Musk was not given an opportunity to respond. “Elon Musk is just lashing out because he doesn’t like our article. We provided Musk with multiple opportunities to reply or rebut this reporting before publication and he declined, opting instead to try to distract with a social post and no evidence.”
The report, published on Friday, also claimed that Musk traveled with a medication box that held about 20 pills,. The Times noted that it was unclear if Musk “was taking drugs when he became a fixture at the White House this year and was handed the power to slash the federal bureaucracy.” They did refer to his erratic behavior when he served in his government role.
Musk appeared with Trump on Friday in an Oval Office press conference, sort of a swan song as the billionaire’s official government service came to an end.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy attempted to ask Musk about the report, but Musk cut him off and instead accused the Times of being discredited in its Pulitzer Prize winning coverage of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign.
