What to Know
Elon Musk suddenly wants custody of the kid he welcomed with Ashley St. Clair, but only because of… transphobia? In case you forgot, back in February 2025, Ashley revealed that she had welcomed a child with Elon in September 2024. In the months that followed, Elon didn’t seem particularly interested in being a father to the child, at least based on how Ashley described the situation. But now, he’s claiming that he’s seeking full custody because the child’s mom voiced support for the trans community. The drama between Elon and Ashley was a lot, but it just keeps getting messier.
Ashley apologized for the views she used to promote.
Once a conservative influencer, Ashley’s recent posts on social media indicate that her views have shifted. Recently, she has spoken out against Elon’s AI tool, Grok, after it was used to create sexual images of her, including images from when she was a child. As she continued to raise awareness of the issue on X, one person questioned her about transphobic beliefs she expressed in the past. “you’ve previously engaged in blatant transphobia, how do you feel about trans people in the wake of noticing how the far right truly is?” they questioned.
In response, she said that she feels “immense guilt” for how she acted in the past. “And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son’s sister (Elon’s estranged daughter, Vivian Wilson) more pain,” Ashley wrote. “Idrk how to make amends for many of these things but I have been trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans community that I’ve hurt.”
I feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son’s sister more pain. Idrk how to make amends for many of these things but I have been trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans…
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 11, 2026
She said she hadn’t spoken about the topic much because she thought it might be “framed as disingenuous,” like she might be changing her views just because of how she feels about Elon now. Ashley added, “Even this reply will become right wing hysteria but yeah I am sorry. Let me know how I can help.”
In a separate post, Ashley also questioned conservatives’ priorities. She wrote, “can someone explain how 0.26% of the population potentially playing women’s sports is a threat worthy of executive order from the president but the twitter mechahitler robot that makes child sexual abuse material + distributes it publicly is not.”
Supporting the trans community is where Elon draws the line.
In February 2025, a representative for Ashley told People that Elon couldn’t be “counted on to even communicate, much less act consistently in the role of a father.” At the time, their child was five months old, but Elon had allegedly only seen him three times.
In a filing at the time, Ashley alleged that Elon had “never asked to see our child on any other occasion” and had “never communicated to me about our child without my prompting.” She also claimed that he never even asked for photos of the child they share.
I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2026
But now that Ashley supports the trans community, Elon seemingly wants to be involved in the child’s life after all.
In an X post, Elon acted like Ashley said she would “transition a one-year-old boy” even though she said no such thing. He claimed that he would be filing for full custody. “I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy,” he wrote on January 12.
Interestingly, Elon previously tried to play it off like he didn’t even know if the child was actually his. In March 2025, he wrote, “I don’t know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out. No court order is needed. Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year.”