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Elon Musk Denies Rampant Illegal Drug Use · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
• 0:05
  This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads that
• 0:08
  shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.
• 0:13
  And I'm your host, Will Walden. Controversy surrounds Elon Musk,
• 0:18
  the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla over allegations of drug use,
• 0:22
  including incidents involving cocaine, LSD and ketamine.
• 0:27
  Now these claims have raised concerns about Musk's well-being
• 0:30
  and the potential impact on his companies and their
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  stakeholders. Musk, however, refutes these
• 0:35
  allegations, sitting that three years of random drug testing by
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  NASA found no evidence of drug or alcohol use.
• 0:42
  The situation gained traction after Musk smoked marijuana on
• 0:45
  the Joe Rogan Podcast in 2018, and following this, NASA
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  requested that Musk undergo random drug testing for three
• 0:53
  years, to which he agreed. According to Musk, these tests
• 0:56
  showed no traces of drugs or alcohol.
• 0:59
  Now this response comes amidst a Wall Street Journal report
• 1:03
  suggesting ongoing drug use and abuse by Musk, a claim he
• 1:08
  denies. A Musk's reaction to the WSG
• 1:11
  report was dismissive and critical, labeling the report as
• 1:14
  unworthy and using a poop emoji to express his disdain.
• 1:19
  Despite his rebuttals, stories and speculations about his drug
• 1:22
  use continue to surface. These include concerns expressed
• 1:25
  by Tesla board members and reports of erratic behavior
• 1:29
  attributed to drug influence, such as his tweet about taking
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  Tesla private. Now NASA's involvement escalated
• 1:37
  after Musk's appearance on Rogan's podcast, leading to a
• 1:40
  $5,000,000 probe into his drug use.
• 1:44
  This investigation aimed to ensure compliance with the Drug
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  Free Workplace requirements of Spacex's $14 billion government
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  contracts. The results of this
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  investigation, however, remain undisclosed.
• 1:58
  Representatives for Musk and his companies, including SpaceX,
• 2:01
  Tesla, and X, formerly Twitter, have not provided immediate
• 2:04
  responses to inquiries about these allegations.
• 2:07
  Musk himself has been relatively quiet on the issue, aside from
• 2:10
  his dismissive tweet following the WSG article.
• 2:14
  Now, in defense of Musk, a post on X highlighted his compliance
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  with NASA's drug testing request, and Musk emphasized
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  that the test over three years found no trace of drugs or
• 2:25
  alcohol. His attorney, Alex Bureau, did
• 2:27
  not immediately respond to any requests from the Wall Street
• 2:30
  Journal report either. Now, the Wall Street Journal's
• 2:33
  reporting has stirred significant discussion, though,
• 2:35
  with claims of Musk's use of various drugs, including cocaine
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  and ketamine. Now, despite these allegations,
• 2:41
  the Journal stands by its reporting.
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  The situation has reportedly caused unease among senior
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  figures at Musk's companies, with a Tesla board director even
• 2:50
  opting not to run for re election due to concern over
• 2:54
  Musk's alleged drug use. The Wall Street Journal report
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  also suggested that SpaceX executives worried about Musk's
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  state during a company meeting, hinting at possible drug
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  influence. This incident, coupled with Musk
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  controversial tweet about Tesla going private, has escalated
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  concerns about his behavior and its potential impact on his
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  companies. Musk's admission of using small
• 3:17
  doses of ketamine for depression and his infamous smoking
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  incident on Rogan's podcast prompted NASA to investigate his
• 3:25
  drug use, and so far the results are unknown, and it was part of
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  NASA's commitment to ensuring that the place was drug free.
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  SpaceX was drug free. They're building rockets for the
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  Artemis program. They have to be drug free and
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  also they're sending people to the International Space Station
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  and satellites with their Falcon 9 rockets.
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  Now Musk has acknowledged SpaceX employees compliance with drug
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  testing requirements following the Rogan incident.
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  This adherence was crucial to SpaceX.
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  Being a NASA contractor had to uphold laws pertaining to drug
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  free workplaces. Musk's comments suggest his
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  awareness of legal and contractual obligations related
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  to drug use and NASA's investigation into Spacex's
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  workplace safety, including drug use, was extensive.
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  It covered multiple SpaceX facilities.
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  It involved interviews with a significant number of employees,
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  hundreds of employees, and despite the thorough nature of
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  this probe, the results have been heavily redacted, with NASA
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  citing confidentiality and competitive concerns.
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  Now, a report for the Business Insider and their efforts to
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  obtain details of the NASA probe face challenges, with initial
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  responses from the agency indicating no records of the
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  assessments Results. However, further insistence led
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  to the release of some documents.
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  Although heavily redacted, this has sparked further curiosity
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  about the investigation's findings.
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  Now, the probe scope included Spacex's commitment to safety
• 4:54
  and health practices, particularly in the context of
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  transporting astronauts. The NASA letter initiated the
• 5:01
  review highlighted the importance of safety in the US
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  space program and the need for compliance with industry
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  standards and legal requirements.
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  Despite the extensive nature and cost of the investigation, NASA
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  has opted not to publicly release all the results, citing
• 5:16
  the proprietary nature of the information.
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  This decision has left many questions unanswered regarding
• 5:23
  the findings of the probe in its implications for SpaceX and Elon
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  Musk. Now, William Gerstenmeyer, the
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  NASA administrator who requested the review, left the agency
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  after the conclusion of the probe.
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  He later joined SpaceX as the vice president of Build and
• 5:41
  flight reliability, a move that adds an interesting twist to the
• 5:44
  narrative surrounding this investigation And there's an
• 5:47
  ongoing controversy surrounding Elon Musk's drug use.
• 5:51
  And while Musk denies any wrongdoing, the context of the
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  allegations and the involvement of organizations like NASA show
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  that this issue remains an important and unresolved aspect
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  of his public and professional life.
• 6:06
  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
• 6:08
  I really do appreciate your support.
• 6:10
  If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow
• 6:13
  button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
• 6:15
  on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
• 6:17
  It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
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  miss an episode, and each episode is about 10 minutes or
• 6:24
  less to get you caught up quickly.
• 6:26
  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 6:29
  to patreon.com/stage Zero and please take care of yourselves
• 6:35
  and each other. I'll see you tomorrow.