No apology for Elon Musk from British diver at defamation trial

The British cave explorer suing Elon Musk for calling him a "pedo guy" on Twitter testified on Thursday that his criticism of the Tesla billionaire was not a personal attack.

In the third day of the defamation trial, Vernon Unsworth refused to apologize for a 2018 CNN interview in which he said that Musk's offer of a mini-submarine to help rescue a boys' soccer team from a flooded Thailand cave was a "PR stunt" and that Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages over three Musk tweets in July 2018, after Unsworth helped rescue the 12 boys and their soccer coach from the cave.

Musk's first tweet questioned Unsworth's role in the rescue, the second said, "Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it," and the third tweet said "Bet ya a signed dollar it's true."

Unsworth said the tweets branded him a pedophile and a liar, and said on Wednesday that they left him "humiliated, ashamed," and "dirtied."

But Musk's attorneys attempted to show Thursday that Unsworth's reputation went unscathed, pointing out recognition he received from both British and Thai governments.

In his own testimony, Musk both apologized and dismissed the tweets as "off the cuff."

To win his lawsuit, Unsworth needs to show Musk was negligent in publishing a falsehood that clearly identified him and caused him harm. He does not need to show that Musk acted with "actual malice," which is much tougher to prove.