Elon Musk accused of reducing child support after Ashley St. Clair filed custody lawsuit over alleged 13th child

St. Clair alleges Musk retaliated financially and tried to muzzle her after she sought sole custody.

-X@stclairashley/Reuters

Elon Musk is facing explosive accusations from conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair, who claims the billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner has retaliated against her financially and is attempting to silence her after she filed for custody of their newborn son.

St. Clair, 26, filed a custody lawsuit in February 2025, seeking sole custody and requesting Musk, 53, take a paternity test. In a statement to DailyMail.com, her legal team claimed: “Ashley is vigorously opposing this application in order to preserve her right to speak-out.” They added, “All while Mr. Musk fashions himself a First Amendment warrior and freely communicates via his owned social media platform.”

The legal team alleges Musk reduced financial support for the child, saying: “Elon Musk has financially retaliated against his own child and reduced his financial support substantially and unilaterally.” They further claimed this occurred only after private efforts to resolve the matter failed: “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.”

St. Clair made headlines on Valentine’s Day when she revealed: “Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father.” She added, “I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause.” “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment. For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child’s privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting.”

Court documents reveal the child, referred to as R.S.C., was born in September 2024, and St. Clair asserts she and Musk began their relationship in May 2023. She claims Musk has only met their son three times and has shown little interest in custody, writing in the suit that “it is in the best interests of the child that she have sole legal and physical custody.”

As part of her petition, St. Clair submitted alleged text messages from Musk. One message, sent after the child’s birth, reads: “I look forward to seeing you and him this weekend.”
In another, Musk reacted to a selfie of St. Clair with a friend with: “Hi cutie.” St. Clair replied: “Hi, see u soon.” Musk then followed up with: “I want to knock you up again.”

Additional messages reveal Musk referencing threats to his safety: “Wake up. This is not the time for sentiment at the expense of safety. If I make a mistake on security [REDACTED] will never know his father.” St. Clair responded: “That’s why the father spot on his birth certificate is blank right, E. And he has my last name.” To which Musk replied: “Necessary for now. Only the paranoid survive.”

In yet another exchange, Musk wrote: “The threat level will reach insane levels until the election is decided. Loose lips sink ships.”

The lawsuit also references St. Clair’s belief that the relationship broke down due to interference from Musk’s associate, Jared Birchall: “He said a lot of pretty horrible things to me that he attributed to you… If you are in New York or if you’d like me to come to DC I really would appreciate being able to speak to you in person.”
Musk’s response: “Hmm ok.”

St. Clair responded with a GIF of Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura saying: “Alllrighty then.” Musk replied: “Well, we do have a legion of kids to make.”

With this child, Musk is believed to now have 13 children. St. Clair claims their relationship began after Musk contacted her in May 2023, and their first meeting took place during an interview in San Francisco. She later received an invitation from Musk to travel to Rhode Island the same day.

Musk’s legal team has filed a request to seal court documents, which was denied on an emergency basis but remains pending. A hearing originally scheduled for May is expected to proceed in private. Meanwhile, both sides continue to exchange legal blows in what’s quickly becoming one of Musk’s most high-profile personal lawsuits to date.