Elon Musk’s (55) lawyers have sent a warning to the makers of a new four-hour documentary about the billionaire, claiming the film defames their client just days before its premiere.

Legal warning targets filmmakers

Attorney Alex Spiro sent the letter on 3 September to a producer at Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. The legal notice accuses the Oscar-winning filmmaker of creating “Musk” with a predetermined conclusion in mind.

Spiro wrote that Gibney refused to fact-check the film with the world’s richest man or the people close to him. “This project did not begin as an inquiry. It began with a conclusion,” the lawyer stated.

The legal letter targets everyone involved in the film’s release, including HBO, Bleecker Street and Universal. Spiro takes particular issue with a sequence he claims promotes a conspiracy theory about Musk knowing early on election night 2024 that Trump had won because his Starlink satellites influenced the result.

Film receives critical acclaim at Venice

The documentary premiered on Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, where audiences gave it a long standing ovation. Critics praised the film, with trade publication Variety calling it a “lacerating portrait.” Deadline described the documentary as “damning” and said it portrayed Musk as “petty, narcissistic, megalomaniacal, cruel.”

Gibney traces the South African-born entrepreneur’s journey from his early days in Silicon Valley in the 2000s to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. The film explores his personal life, including his difficult childhood and the 14 known children he has fathered with several women.

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Production company defends First Amendment rights

Jigsaw Productions defended the documentary in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. The company said the First Amendment protects scrutiny of powerful public figures, adding that all Americans should defend this right, “including the associates of Elon Musk, who has proclaimed himself to be a ‘free speech absolutist.’”

Gibney won an Academy Award for best documentary for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which examined US military interrogation practices in Afghanistan. His previous films have investigated the Church of Scientology, the Enron corporation and Israel-Iran spy operations.

The legal letter orders the filmmakers to preserve all project materials, including footage, interview transcripts, research files and internal communications, because litigation appears likely.

Musk has spent several days attacking Gibney on X, the platform he owns. He called the documentary a “hit piece that misses” and dismissed it as boring.