‘Let Me Be Me’: Elon Musk Cites Eminem’s 2002 Hit in Suit Against SEC to Return His Twitter Freedom
03:55 GMT 30.03.2022 (Updated: 20:13 GMT 19.10.2022)
© AP Photo / Matt RourkeElon Musk walks from the the justice center in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 12, 2021. Musk took to a witness stand Monday to defend his company's 2016 acquisition of a troubled company called SolarCity against a shareholder lawsuit that claims he's to blame for a deal that was rife with conflicts of interest and never delivered the profits he had promised.
© AP Photo / Matt Rourke
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Earlier this month, Elon Musk attempted to challenge the lawfulness of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) requirement to reconcile all public statements regarding Tesla's business with the company's board of directors and lawyers.
In his latest court filing against the SEC, Tesla CEO Elon Musk cited lyrics from one of the most iconic songs of “Rap God” Eminem, according to The Verge. The document includes a citation of the 2002 track Without Me, where the rapper sings that “The FCC won’t let me be or let me be me so let me see/ They tried to shut me down.”
The lines refer to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to fine a Colorado radio station for playing Eminem’s 2000 song The Real Slim Shady. The order was later reversed.
In the Tuesday filing, 'FCC' was replaced with 'SEC' as Musk’s legal team wanted to show that overseeing his tweets is unconstitutional and a restraint on his free speech.
“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. Compare Eminem, ‘Without Me’ (2002),” the court filing says.
Musk drew the SEC's attention some years ago after his tweets about Tesla’s privatisation caused company shares to rise 11 percent, which “misled investors”. Legal proceedings led to an agreement with the SEC that obliged Musk to get preliminary approval from an "experienced securities lawyer" for any post regarding Tesla’s activities.