Dressed down in a black top and baggy jeans, Elon Musk’s ex-wife Justine was seen for the first time since their son Xavier – now daughter Vivian – revealed her plans to change gender and cut ties with her billionaire father.
Vivian, 18, who has a twin named Griffin, filed court papers to make the change in April but they did not come to light until this week.
The filing also laid bare a rift between the teenager and her SpaceX boss father, with Vivian petitioning to change her last name to Wilson and adding: ‘I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.’
Vivian is now facing a court hearing on Friday morning in Santa Monica to confirm her change of gender and name.
Dressed down in a black top and baggy jeans, Elon Musk ‘s ex-wife Justine was seen for the first time since their son Xavier – now daughter Vivian – revealed her plans to change gender and cut ties with her billionaire father
Justine is the mother of 18-year-old Xavier Musk who has petitioned a California court to recognize her new name, Vivian, and to cut ties with her father
Under California law, those petitioning to change their name and gender automatically have a hearing scheduled for six weeks after filing their petition to give anyone who objects time to counter-file, provided they have ‘good cause’.
If no objections are forthcoming, the judge will automatically grant the name or gender change.
Anyone who does object has to appear to explain their reasons in front of a judge and the petitioner is allowed to offer counter-arguments before the judge decides.
Justine, 49, declined to discuss the case outside of her Brentwood, California, home but previously told of her pride in Vivian in a recent post on Twitter.
Alluding to a conversation with one of her children, she said: ‘I had a weird childhood,’ my 18-year-old said to me.
‘I can’t believe I’m as normal-seeming as I am.’ I said, ‘I’m very proud of you.’ ‘I’m proud of myself!’
Musk was married to Vivian’s mother, Canadian author Justine Wilson, from 2000 until 2008
Elon Musk, 50, had Xavier and twin Griffin with his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson in 2004
Musk has a history of making controversial comments about trans people, declaring in 2020 that ‘pronouns suck’ and adding: ‘I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare.’
He also has declared his support for Florida governor Ron DeSantis who sparked a controversy with a bill nicknamed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that bans teaching children in third grade or below anything about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Vivian is one of five children born to Canadian author Wilson and Musk during their eight-year marriage.
Along with Vivian and Griffin, the former couple are also parents to 16-year-old triplets: Kai, Saxon, and Damian.
Photos of the children are rare but an old Flickr account owned by Wilson and unearthed by DailyMail.com gives an insight into their simple childhood, with the boys pictured reading, tucking into supper at a restaurant and playing on the family patio.
Elon and Justine Musk, now 49, met while they were both attending Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, and they tied the knot in 2000. The pair share five children but lost their firstborn, Nevada, in 2002 at just ten weeks
Elon Musk filed for divorce in 2008. In an essay, Justine said she and Elon were ‘estranged,’ but that she did not regret their relationship
Musk, 50, has two other children with Canadian singer Grimes, 33: two-year-old X Æ A-12 and Exa Dark Sideræl, six months – nicknamed X and Y by their parents.
Wilson and Musk split acrimoniously in 2008, with Wilson going on to write an essay in Marie Claire in 2010 in which she described herself as a ‘starter wife’ and revealed her anger over his engagement to British actress Talulah Riley just six weeks after he filed for divorce.
She also told how Musk declared himself the ‘alpha’ in their relationship and treated her like an employee to which he would often respond: ‘If you were my employee, I would fire you.’
When their eldest son Nevada died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2002, Wilson said Musk regarded her grief as ’emotional manipulation’ and refused to talk about the baby.
Although they went on to have five children, she said he regarded her as insignificant and pushed her into becoming a trophy wife cliché.
After they split, Wilson said they communicated via his assistant, although she did strike up a friendship with Riley who married and divorced Musk twice but had no children with him.
Riley, 36, described Musk as a devoted dad, telling biographer Ashlee Vance: ‘He tries to come home early for family dinners with me and the kids and maybe play some computer games with the boys.’
Following his divorce from Riley in 2016, Musk went on to date Amber Heard, 36, who posted photos of herself playing with his children to her Instagram.
Musk then went on to have a lengthy relationship and two children with Grimes, who is now dating Chelsea Manning.
In 2020, the entrepreneur said in an interview with the New York Times that he is a hands-off dad to his younger children but said he has more of a role when they get older.
The Tesla boss said: ‘If I have a trip for Tesla to China, for example, I’ll bring the kids with me and we’ll go see the Great Wall or we took the bullet train from Beijing to Xian and saw the Terracotta Warriors.’
Justine is pictured taking her dog for a walk on Wednesday evening, stopping to relieve itself
Justine’s transgender son is petitioning a California court to recognize her new name, Vivian, and to cut ties with her father
