Tragic Details About Elon Musk's Daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson

Elon Musk loves to pontificate about humanity's need for more children, but maybe he should start by mending the tragic rift with his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson. Born of Elon's eight-year marriage to Justine Wilson, Vivian was born in 2004, alongside her twin brother Griffin. In what would become a foreshadowing of Vivia's own rocky relationship with Elon, Vivian's mother, Justine, claimed that her marriage to Elon was difficult. Writing in Marie Claire, Justine explained that prior to separating, she often found herself reminding Elon that she was not his employee, to which he would respond:  "If you were my employee, I would fire you."

However, after the divorce, the separation of Vivian's parents still did not create enough distance between her and Elon. Two years after beginning gender-affirming care to transition to being female, according to TMZ, Vivian filed court documents shortly after turning 18 to affirm her gender and also to change her name from "Musk" to her mother's maiden name. The court filing put her own tragic separation from her father in crystal-clear terms, with Vivian saying, "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form." In some ways, it put a final legal separation between Elon and his daughter, but the winding path to their ongoing estrangement remains full of tragedy.

It would be hard to imagine what it's like for your father to call you dead when you are still very much alive, but that is what Elon Musk did to his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson. In a clip from an interview with Jordan Peterson for the Daily Wire, Musk took a literal interpretation of "deadnaming" by saying, "The reason they call it deadnaming is because your son is dead." Dr. Jason Lambrese, a child and adolescent psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, wrote that deadnaming is "when someone uses their old name after being asked not to ... The person who they once were is dead, but the new person is alive, so their current name should be used." This is the case for Wilson, who is still very much alive despite Musk seemingly not wanting to accept her choices.

During that chat, Musk infamously declared that his son had been killed by "the woke mind virus." It was a dramatic statement but also a misinterpretation of what it means to transition genders. According to the UCSF's website on Transgender Care, the process of transitioning is a "very private, personal, and individualized process. ... [It] can include any combination of internal self-reflection, connecting with community and support groups, or working with a therapist who has expertise in gender identity issues." It's tragic that Musk has continued with his agenda that opposes Wilson's existence, telling Peterson in the same interview, "I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus ... And we're making some progress."

Vivian Jenna Wilson did not bite her tongue after Elon Musk publicly called her dead, telling NBC News, "He was cold. He's very quick to anger. He is uncaring and narcissistic." Additionally, she painted a picture of her father that was anything but warm, saying that when she was growing up, he would harass her if she exhibited any feminine traits, even suggesting that she try to deepen her voice in elementary school. She said of one particular instance, "I was in fourth grade. We went on this road trip and he was constantly yelling at me viciously because my voice was too high. It was cruel."

A small silver lining is that Justine Wilson, Vivian's mother, seems supportive of her daughter. While Justine has not made a definitive public comment on Vivian's transition, she did post what appeared to be a conversation with her on X, formerly Twitter, with Justine talking to her "18 year old," who said, "I had a weird childhood. I can't believe I'm as normal-seeming as I am." Justine replied, "I am proud of you!" The 18-year-old agreed: "I'm proud of myself!" So, despite her fractured relationship with her father, Vivian appears to have a solid bond with her mother.

Many would rank Elon Musk as among the smartest men currently alive, with his technological and business acumen on display in the creation of pioneering companies like Tesla and SpaceX. Musk's long resume is part of the reason it's so tragic that he claims to have been tricked into signing documents for his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, to receive gender-affirming care. In his chat with the Daily Wire, Musk says, "I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys." He is referring to Wilson, refusing to acknowledge her transition, adding, "This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had COVID going on, so there was a lot of confusion, and I was told [Wilson] might commit suicide."

And while it's certainly the responsibility of a parent to be aware of their child's medical treatment, in her chat with NBC News, Wilson said that Musk was not tricked and that she had to physically meet with him to review and sign documents in person, though he did initially hesitate before ultimately signing off. Wilson told NBC of her father's contradicting claims, "I think he was under the assumption that I wasn't going to say anything and I would just let this go unchallenged."

One of the most tragic details about Elon Musk and Vivian Jenna Wilson's relationship is how much we know about it, with much of it stemming from Musk airing out his thoughts, opinions, and grievances online. It's not just in interviews, either. He notoriously trolled his own daughter with one-off thoughts, such as when he simply posted "Pronouns suck" on X. It was a sharp turnaround from a previously (sort of) supportive attitude toward the trans community when he posted, "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare." As the man with the most followers on X, his words are seen by millions, and his thoughts on such a sensitive issue only add fuel to the social media fire in the discussion of his daughter's actual real life. 

In her exclusive chat with NBC, Wilson said of her father's public display of disaffection, "If you're going to lie about me, like, blatantly to an audience of millions, I'm not just gonna let that slide." Musk reportedly also "liked" numerous transphobic tweets on X, an action that often reposts tweets in followers' feeds, which helped spread his public distaste for his daughter's decision. Given that one's gender identity is an immensely personal affair, it's a real tragedy that Musk has decided to make his own daughter's private life a matter of public debate. Still, Musk is never one to mince words. He told the Financial Times that although he has good relationships with the rest of his kids, regarding Wilson, he said, "You can't win em' all."

While Elon Musk may be planning a future with Donald Trump, his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, may be planning to leave America altogether. After Trump's 2024 victory, Wilson posted on Meta's Threads, "I've thought this for a while, but yesterday confirmed it for me. I don't see my future being in the United States." Her decision comes in the wake of anti-trans legislation becoming a priority for the Republican Party. She further wrote, "Even if [Trump's] only in office for 4 years, even if the anti-trans regulations magically don't happen, the people who willingly voted this in are not going anywhere anytime soon."

Wilson is not alone in her impetus to pack her bags and leave home. ABC News reported that many parents of trans children have made plans to leave states that have implemented anti-trans regulations, with one example being Texas launching child abuse investigations into people who provide gender-affirming care, which could include parents of trans children. Musk has not made a comment in response to Wilson saying she wants to leave the country, but based on what she has said about her relationship with him, we wouldn't expect him to run through the airport to stop her any time soon.