Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, isn’t holding back when it comes to criticizing the billionaire’s parenting.
During an appearance on the Wide Awake podcast Wednesday, just two days before author Ashley St. Clair claimed she had given birth to Elon’s 13th child last year, Errol made some blunt remarks about his son’s role as a father.
“He hasn’t been a good dad,” the 79-year-old said in a TikTok clip from the episode. “His first child was raised mostly by nannies and sadly passed away under their care.”
Elon and his ex-wife, Justine Wilson, lost their firstborn son, Nevada, to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in 2002 when he was just 10 weeks old.
“Elon’s gonna shoot me for saying this, but that’s how I feel,” Errol admitted. “That’s not good. They were too rich, had too many nannies.”
He went on to claim that Elon and Wilson’s five surviving children—twins Griffin and Vivian, 20, and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian, 19—each had their own personal nanny.
“When they got divorced in 2008, there were six nannies on each side,” Errol added. “It was a really strange situation.”
When host Joshua Rubin asked whether Elon, 53, didn’t spend enough time with his kids, Errol didn’t hesitate. “That’s exactly right,” he responded.
Elon’s team has yet to comment on the claims.
Meanwhile, TikTok users have been quick to call out Errol’s “disturbing … hypocrisy,” pointing out that he himself has a child with his former stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout.
One user summed it up: “Bad dads can recognize bad dads.”
Beyond his five children with Wilson, Elon has fathered three kids—son X AE A-XII, 4, daughter Exa, 3, and son Techno, 2—with his ex, Grimes. He also has three children—twins Strider and Azure, 2, and a 1-year-old—with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis.
Recently, St. Clair alleged in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) that she and Elon share a 5-month-old child, whom he has yet to “publicly acknowledge.”
Elon hasn’t directly addressed the claim, but he did reply to a post accusing St. Clair of spending “half a decade plotting” to have a child with him.
Adding to the drama, his daughter Vivian made a sarcastic jab on TikTok over the weekend.
“Wow, if I had a nickel for every time I found out I had half-siblings through Reddit, I’d have two nickels,” she joked. “Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice, right?”
Vivian, who legally changed her name and gender in 2022, has cut ties with Elon. The Financial Times previously reported that the SpaceX founder acknowledged their estrangement, saying, “I can’t win them all.”
Elon has been openly critical of Vivian’s transition, blaming what he calls a “woke-mind virus.” She has repeatedly fired back on social media, with Grimes also stepping in to support her.
