“Over time, as he increases more and more power, there is only one character in all his companies, and that's Elon Musk. And only one character in all of his marriages, that's Elon Musk. Everyone else recedes into the background.”
Uncanny Valley | WIRED · October 2026
Gibney responding to host Zoë Schiffer about a moment in the film where Justine Musk disputes Elon's account of their first child's death. Gibney calls it main character syndrome and says it defines Musk.
Transcript
…You know, you say things that are absolutely outrageous. We're, you know, full self-driving is a solved problem, or we're going to be on Mars next year. He says it with such confidence. The, you know, insights into the human being really become valuable in terms of understanding the larger context.
…of when their first child died by a SIDS-related incident. And Elon Musk Documentary that he was holding the child. The child died in his arms. And Justine says, no, this was one of the most defining moments of my life. He died in my arms. You really just see how Elon has hurt her over the years.
That's right. That, I mean, in a way, that the moment that you recall gets me kind of emotionally worked up, even as I think about it, because of course, that moment was deeply painful for Elon. But to sort of credit grab in the midst of a tragedy like that seems so petulant and small. And also, you know, sort of talk about main character syndrome. That is kind of one of the defining things about Elon Musk: over time, as he increases more and more power, there is only one character in all his companies, and that's Elon Musk. And only one character in all of his marriages, that's Elon Musk. Everyone else recedes into the background.
I don't want to ask you to speculate, but I am curious about your take on this because it's a question that I have had about Elon Musk: does he actually believe what he's saying, or is he knowingly lying?
I think it's closer to the former. And I've dealt with a number of characters who are like this. You know, Sam Harris in the film makes a distinction between liars and bullshitters. And liars, of course, have to assiduously keep track of the truth in order to know when and how they're lying.…
It's so hard to remember when talking about Elon Musk Documentary this goober in an Occupy Mars t-shirt who's thrashing around with a chainsaw, waxing poetic about Mars, he has had this undeniable impact on so many people's lives and livelihoods. And a lot of that impact has been negative. The part…
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