Ashley St. Clair says she rejected a reported $40 million NDA after giving birth last year to Elon Musk's 13th child, then appeared in Alex Gibney's documentary Musk. On Tuesday, she took that choice public at the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered and where she said speaking out mattered more than the money.
Venice on Tuesday
The 28-year-old said she wanted "to set the example for my kids that we should never take being materially comfortable that we’re speaking the truth." She added, "I hope the risk that I’m taking now in speaking out and trying to fight back at least helps a little bit." For a subject who had already been part of Republican politics since she was 18, after meeting Charlie Kirk, the decision lands as a reversal as much as a statement.
Gibney's long film
Alex Gibney said he began working on Musk in 2023, and he described the process as one in which many people declined to speak. He also said, "The thing that struck me most, particularly early on, there was a tremendous sense of fear of talking — both among people who were his critics, colleagues and friends." The nearly four hours long documentary gives that reluctance a place in the record instead of leaving it as private chatter.
Comfort versus truth
The reported $40 million NDA is the complication at the center of St. Clair's account: a payout large enough to remove financial pressure, and still not enough to keep her silent. That choice makes her more than a participant in a film about Elon Musk; it makes her one of the few named voices willing to speak publicly in a project Musk has dismissed as a "hit piece."
For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple: the film is already out, the dispute is public, and the unanswered issue is the scope of the alleged NDA she says she refused. What St. Clair put on record on Tuesday is a rare paper trail for a story that otherwise depends on silence.
