Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Elon Musk lawyer quotes Eminem lyrics in latest SEC legal filing

Elon Musk lawyer quotes Eminem lyrics in latest SEC legal filing

Billionaire Elon Musk's latest court filing in his legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quotes rapper Eminem.

In an effort to throw out his 2018 agreement with the top U.S. securities regulator requiring the Tesla, Inc. co-founder to obtain pre-approval for his tweets, Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro referenced the 2002 song "Without Me."

"The (SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; They tried to shut me down," he said.

Eminem's original lyrics swipe at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"The FCC won’t let me be or let me be me so let me see/ They tried to shut me down on MTV," the rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, wrote.

The FCC had tried to fine a Colorado radio station for playing Eminem's 2000 song "The Real Slim Shady;" the FCC ultimately relented.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022.


Musk's attorney noted that the "First Amendment requires that agencies proceed with caution when constitutional rights are at stake, not seek to pursue any and all novel theories that broaden their authority at the cost of individual freedom."

He also renewed efforts to reject an SEC subpoena for details on whether Musk and Tesla are complying with their disclosure requirements under the 2018 consent decree.

Spiro said the SEC issued its subpoena in bad faith and called requiring lawyers to vet Musk's tweets unconstitutional – a violation of the First Amendment.

In a February motion filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Musk and Tesla accused the SEC of targeting him with "unrelenting" investigations in an attempt to "chill his exercise of First Amendment rights."

Spiro also said that an Aug. 7, 2018, tweet that Musk had "funding secured" to potentially take the auto company private was truthful.

The regulator filed a lawsuit against Musk in 2018, claiming the statements in that tweet were "false and misleading" and that Musk "knew or was reckless in not knowing" that his statements were false and/or misleading.

Spiro has argued that the SEC cannot take action related to Musk's tweets without court authorization, emphasizing that the 2018 settlement was reached when Tesla was a less mature company.

The SEC – which is investigating a Nov. 6, 2021, tweet probing Musk's followers regarding whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stake to cover tax bills on stock options – said Musk should not be excused from the agreement because he found compliance "less convenient than he had hoped."

They said earlier in March that they have the legal authority to subpoena Tesla and Musk, calling his challenge "frivolous."

The subpoenas, issued under seal, seek all written communications concerning the Nov. 6 tweets and whether they were shown to Tesla lawyers for pre-approval.

"Courts have long recognized that ‘Congress has vested the SEC with broad authority to conduct investigations into possible violations of federal securities laws and to demand production of evidence relevant to such investigations,’" SEC attorney Melissa Armstrong said.

Musk has said he felt pressured to settle with the commission because its action "stood to jeopardize the company’s financing," saying the agency has not yet distributed the fine money to Tesla shareholders as was required.

The SEC said it expected a plan to distribute the funds to receive court approval by the end of last month, according to The Verge.

Reuters reported that the case, SEC v Musk, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 18-08865, is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan.

Fox Business' request for comment from the SEC was not immediately returned.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×