Former conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair revealed at the Venice Film Festival that Elon Musk allegedly offered her a $40 million NDA and a monthly stipend in exchange for silence. The claims appear in Alex Gibney’s upcoming four-hour documentary Musk
, detailing the billionaire’s political rise and personal life.
The Venice Revelation and the $40 Million Offer
Ashley St. Clair appeared at a press conference alongside Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney to discuss her role in the upcoming biographical film Musk
. She told reporters that she rejected a massive financial payout designed to keep her quiet about her relationship with the billionaire.
I was offered the opportunity not to speak for $40 million,
St. Clair told the audience in Venice, according to reporting from the Guardian. She explained that the proposition forced her to weigh the value of her own voice against material security. According to coverage of her previous statements on the Don Lemon Show podcast, the initial financial discussion originated when Musk instructed his wealth manager, Jared Birchall, to wire $15 million for a home and reserve capital before a two-hour call introduced the non-disclosure agreement requirement.
“When you’re offered something like that, it really causes a debate in your head about what your speech means and how valuable that is and why do they want to offer me this amount of money to not speak?”
Ashley St. Clair, former conservative influencer, via Page Six
St. Clair ultimately walked away from the deal, which reportedly included a lump sum alongside an additional offer of $15 million and a monthly stipend of $100,000 for 20 years. I had said to him, ‘I would rather go to a studio apartment with both of my children than sign this,
she noted, emphasizing her desire to set an example for her kids.
Text Messages, Custody Battles, and a Legion of Children
The documentary explores Musk’s sprawling family life, highlighting the 14 children he shares with four different partners. Among those revelations is a text message exchange involving St. Clair and the Tesla founder prior to the birth of their son, Romulus, in 2024. The Guardian reported that Musk told her via text that he wanted to have a child with her because he needed a legion of children before the civil war.
The personal dynamic between the former couple has since deteriorated into legal warfare. St. Clair filed a lawsuit in February 2025 seeking sole custody of Romulus. The filing followed public social media statements from Musk in January indicating he was seeking full custody after she expressed support for the transgender community.
Algorithmic Manipulation and the Threat to Democracy
Beyond personal revelations, the four-hour documentary targets Musk's acquisition of the platform formerly known as Twitter. Filmmaker Alex Gibney and reporter Zoë Schiffer, who is also interviewed in the project, examined how platform changes reshaped online discourse.
“One thing that I didn’t properly understand when I started the film was how Musk tweaked algorithms at Twitter to, in fact, prioritize vitriol and hate over, you know, the town square.”
Alex Gibney, filmmaker, via The Independent
St. Clair echoed these concerns regarding platform governance. She warned that the billionaire is causing deliberate division that could be catastrophic if it’s not regulated or contained.
Pointing to his recent social media posts celebrating far-right political victories in Germany, she argued that his online activity manufactures real-world friction. He is creating something that is causing real world effects with all of these inputs on X,
she told reporters.
An AI Avatar and a Portrait of a Modern Confidence Man
To capture the subject’s elusive nature, Gibney employed an unconventional cinematic device. The documentary utilizes an artificial intelligence avatar built entirely from genuine statements made by the SpaceX chief to conduct a simulated interview. Gibney noted that the technique highlights the gap between Musk’s narrative and his actual conduct, serving as an ironic nod to the tech titan’s own musings about living in a simulation.
Gibney’s analytical lens looks past the traditional Silicon Valley startup narrative, framing the billionaire through a much sharper historical perspective. His story turns out to be the story of the confidence man, the stock pumper,
Gibney said in Venice, arguing that the source of the tech titan’s immense power lies in inflating market valuation rather than traditional engineering breakthroughs. The director also connected Musk’s preoccupation with civilizational collapse to a difficult upbringing in South Africa, suggesting the billionaire is playing out childhood trauma on a global stage.
Theatrical Release and Ongoing Stakes
With the Venice Film Festival premiere now completed, the documentary prepares for a wider theatrical rollout on October 16. Alongside interviews with Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, first wife Justine Musk, tech journalist Kara Swisher, and former USAID Administrator Samantha Power, the project examines the deep web of information collected on U.S. citizens.
As the legal battles between Musk and his co-parents play out in court, the upcoming release promises to fuel intense debate over Big Tech oversight, algorithmic accountability, and the intersection of massive corporate wealth with international politics.
