Elon Musk's Trans Daughter Vivian Fired Back After He Publicly Said She Was 'Killed By Woke Virus'
Vivian Wilson publicly mocked her estranged father Elon Musk's claim in a 2024 interview that she was 'killed by the woke mind virus.'
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleElon Musk’s contentious relationship with his transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is once again in the news following new claims by his ex-wife, Justine Wilson, about his response to their daughter’s gender transition. The claims have also revived memories of Musk's controversial 2024 podcast appearance, when he said Vivian had been "killed by the woke mind virus" and repeatedly referred to her using male pronouns.
With Justine's claims featured in filmmaker Alex Gibney's documentary Musk, Vivian's response to the 2024 controversy offers important context for the years-long family rift.
Vivian responded sharply to Elon Musk deadnaming her along with his 'Woke mind virus' remark
Vivian and Elon Musk's rift played out in public in 2024, when he claimed she had been "killed by the woke mind virus." He straight-up said his child was "dead," as he felt he had lost his son (before her transition, Vivian was known as Xavier Alexander Musk).
Musk made the comments during a 2024 appearance on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, where the conversation turned to gender-affirming care. The trillionaire claimed he had been "tricked" into signing documents related to Vivian's medical care and said he had lost his "son." Musk shared:
"I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys, Xavier. This was before I had really any understanding of what was going on... I was told Xavier might commit suicide."
Musk then declared that his child had been "killed by the woke mind virus," adding that he had vowed to fight it. The SpaceX CEO said:
"I lost my son, essentially. They call it 'deadnaming' for a reason…because your son is dead. So my son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus."
Immediately following this statement, Musk added, "I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that, and we're making some progress."
How did Vivian respond to her estranged father deadnaming her?
Vivian, who was 20 at the time, responded on Threads with a mix of sarcasm and direct criticism. Reacting to a headline about her father's claim, she made a scathing remark, saying, "I look pretty good for a dead bitch."
The model was new to the platform at the time, and after Musk's remarks, thousands rallied in Vivian's support and reached out to her on Threads. One user addressed her, writing, "Hope you're not too bothered by what he says about you." She replied:
"I'm not lol. I've just started to find it funny at this point. Calling me dead on a podcast with JORDAN PETERSON of all people while basically admitting you have zero reading comprehension by saying you were 'tricked' into signing documents that you read over multiple times is basically a parody of itself."
In a 2024 interview with NBC News, Vivian had elaborated on her decision to speak out after her father's surprising comment on the podcast. The model, who legally transitioned her name and gender in 2022, didn't hold back. She told the outlet:
"I think he was under the assumption that I wasn't going to say anything and I would just let this go unchallenged, which I'm not going to do, because if you're going to lie about me, like, blatantly to an audience of millions, I'm not just gonna let that slide."
Vivian later challenged Musk's claims about her childhood, including his assertion that he had known she was gay and "slightly autistic" from an early age. She called his account fabricated and argued that he had not been present enough in her childhood to know what she was really like.
The model wrote, "He doesn't know what I was like as a child because he quite simply wasn't there," adding that during the time he was present, she was "relentlessly harassed for my femininity and queerness." In another post, she wrote:
"I want to make one thing absolutely clear. I disowned him, not the other way around."
Vivian legally changed her name and gender in 2022, taking the surname of her mother, Justine Wilson. In her court petition, she said she no longer wished to be related to her biological father "in any way, shape or form."
Grimes, a musician and one of Musk’s exes with whom he has three children, also weighed in on the controversy in favor. On July 25, 2024, Grimes wrote, "I love and am forever endlessly proud of Vivian."
The feud hit the headlines again after Justine Wilson made the claims in Musk, Gibney’s upcoming documentary about the trillionaire. Justine alleges that Musk treated Vivian's transition as the "death of a child" and cut off her health insurance after telling Justine to reassure their daughter, "I'll always love her."
Musk has not publicly responded to this specific allegation, nor participated in the documentary. He has denounced it as a "hit piece," and his lawyer has threatened legal action over what they describe as factual distortions. Vivian, meanwhile, has continued building a public identity separate from her father. In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, she described being Musk's daughter as part of her personal history, but not something that would define her future.
What are your thoughts on Vivian's fiery response to her father's bitter remarks about her transition?
Image courtesy: Threads, Vivian Wilson/Instagram, Farzad/YouTube
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