Topline
Grimes, a musician and mother of two of Elon Musk’s 10 children, discussed her relationship with the world’s richest man in-depth in an interview published Tuesday, diving into what drives her ex’s oft-puzzling behavior.
Grimes, left, and Elon Musk attend The Met gala in 2018.
Key Facts
The on-and-off romantic relationship beginning in 2018 with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was “like the best internship ever,” Grimes, alternatively known by her birth name Claire Boucher or her chosen name c (the speed of light), told Wired.
Grimes, who gushed about Musk professionally as a “great general,” also offered insight into why the billionaire controversially inserts himself into a variety of social issues, including spewing and boosting content which many view as transphobic on his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
In determining why Musk was so “stressed” about trans people, Grimes said she determined that Musk’s issue stemmed from his opposition to gender affirming surgery interfering with natural fertility, a nod to his fixation with global birth rates and the so-called “underpopulation crisis.”
“He’s just on Twitter, and he’s unhappy with woke people, and the arguments happened,” Grimes explained about Musk’s social media tiffs.
Grimes said her and Musk's three-year-old son, nicknamed X, has an “obsession with space” and her one-year-old daughter is a “very strange…little engineer” who likes industrial shipping.
The children will have a “pretty intense” upbringing because “being Elon’s kid is not the same as being anyone’s kid,” Grimes explained.
Key Background
Musk has seven other known living children—sets of twins and triplets between the ages of 17 and 19 with his ex-wife Justine Wilson and twins born in 2021 with Shivon Zilis, an executive at his company, Neuralink. Last year, one of the billionaire’s eldest children petitioned to change her legally-recognized gender from male to female and cut ties with her father. “Can’t win them all,” Musk lamented to the Financial Times last October about his estrangement from his daughter, adding he has “very good relationships” with all of his other children.
Tangent
Asked about the upcoming cage match between Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Grimes said though it’s “not the most pleasant feeling” watching the father of her children fight, it’s a good “outlet for [traditional]
masculinity,” adding Musk is “very strong.” The singer also said she was the one who came up with the idea for Musk to propose a “literal dick measuring contest” between the middle-aged billionaires.Further Reading
Grimes on Living Forever, Dying on Mars, and Giving Elon Musk Ideas for His Best (Worst) Tweets (Wired)
Elon Musk Welcomes Child With Musician Grimes (Forbes)
Elon Musk And Grimes Announce Second Child, Exa Dark (Forbes)
