Grimes Takes Legal Action Against Elon Musk: Parental Rights at Stake
The acclaimed singer seeks formal recognition for the parental rights of their three children.
Pat Franklin, Staff Writer | October 4, 2023 at 02:31 PM
In the world of entertainment and tech billionaires, few partnerships have garnered as much attention as that of singer Grimes and entrepreneur Elon Musk. However, their relationship is once again in the limelight, not for a new track or tech innovation, but for a legal tussle involving the parental rights of their three uniquely-named children: X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl, and Techno Mechanicus.
Grimes, known offstage as Claire Boucher, recently lodged a “petition to establish parental relationship” in a California court, as reported by the Daily Mail. Such petitions serve to legally identify a child’s parents, especially when the parents have never tied the knot. Beyond mere identification, these petitions can be a stepping stone to child custody and support order proceedings.
Despite this move, the 35-year-old artist hasn’t publicly expressed desires regarding child support or custody rights. As for Musk, the visionary behind ventures such as Tesla and SpaceX, there hasn’t been any public acknowledgment or response to the petition.
Grimes’ concerns run deeper than formalities. A now-removed post on the platform, X, conveys her anguish: “Tell Shivon to unblock me and tell Elon to let me see my son or plz respond to my lawyer,” she said, alluding to Shivon Zilis. Zilis, an executive at Musk’s neurotech firm, Neuralink, bore Musk’s twins via IVF, though she maintains a strictly professional relationship with him. Grimes’ pain is palpable as she continues, “I have never even been allowed to see a photo of these children until this moment, despite the situation utterly ripping my family apart.”
Elon Musk, whose family tree boasts 11 branches in the form of his children, seems to have complex dynamics when it comes to parenthood. Besides the trio with Grimes, he has 17-month-old twins, Azure and Strider, with Zilis, and six more children with his first wife, Justine Wilson. Tragically, one of them, Nevada, succumbed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as an infant.
Given the Tesla CEO’s vocal concerns about potential population declines, his stance on having children seems clear. As he expressed on X, “Having children is saving the world.”
As this legal drama unfolds, fans and onlookers can only hope for a resolution that prioritizes the well-being of the children involved.