Ashley St. Clair claims Elon Musk offered her $40 million to not star in documentary about him
Although she'd already made a name for herself as a right-wing author and ambassador for Turning Point USA, in 2026, Ashley St. Clair is largely remembered as Elon Musk's ex. Making explosive claims that the world's richest man had fathered a child with her, St. Clair has since renounced her MAGA ways but continues to dish the dirt on the tech mogul.
Ashley St. Clair was recently back in the limelight when she discussed all things Elon Musk for Alex Gibney's Musk.
The documentary features explosive claims about potential electoral interference, but speaking at a Venice Film Festival press conference (via Variety), it's clear she's got more to say.
Here, St. Clair claimed she'd turned down a $40 million payday from Mr. Musk, hoping to stop her from starring in Gibney's tell-all documentary.
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She maintains she decided to star in Musk because she wanted to "set the example for my kids that we should never take being materially comfortable that we’re speaking the truth."
As for turning down the apparent $40 million, St. Clair continued: "When you are offered something like that, it creates a debate about what your speech means and how valuable that is. Why do they want to offer me this amount of money to not speak?”
Expanding on her move away from her previous work, St. Clair added: "I got involved with Republican politics when I was 18 after I met Charlie Kirk, and there was an air of ignorance.
"But that ignorance does not excuse any role in that. I hope the risk that I’m taking now in speaking out and trying to fight back at least helps a little bit."
Gibney's documentaries have included investigations into everything from sexual abuse cover-ups in the Catholic Church to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Musk has apparently been in the works since 2023, with St. Clair becoming a seeming figurehead of talking heads.
Referring to Musk as a 'megalomaniac' and a 'very dangerous man', Gibney noted how many people he approached were afraid to be part of the documentary: "The thing that struck me most, particularly early on, there was a tremendous sense of fear of talking — both among people who were his critics, colleagues and friends. I talked to many, many, many people. Many declined to speak."
Notably, the man himself supposedly turned down an offer to appear after Gibney reached out to him before things kicked off. Musk has since referred to it as a 'hit piece'.
Despite there clearly being so much subject matter to cover, Gibney says he never intended Musk to be a four-hour outing.
Still, it looks like a bumper documentary that promises to reveal "that the so-called ‘visionary genius’ is little more than the 21st-century reincarnation of a confidence man."
With Musk suggesting reality might be little more than a simulation, Gibney claims that “even [Musk's] most heralded accomplishments are rife with illusion and misdirection."
St. Clair got the last word in, and after apparently turning down that cool $40 million, she delivered one last scathing takedown of Musk as she mused: "He makes a conscious choice to not put himself in other people’s shoes. It is a deliberate rejection of empathy.”