Ashley St. Clair’s account of her relationship with Elon Musk has brought a deeply personal dispute into the spotlight, raising questions about money, privacy and the influence of one of the world’s most powerful billionaires. In an October 9, 2026, interview with The New York Times, the former conservative influencer discussed her relationship with Musk, their child and an alleged nondisclosure agreement that she says she refused to sign.
Her account is now part of Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary Musk, which examines the billionaire’s business empire, political influence and personal relationships. But one major issue remains disputed: Musk has denied that St. Clair was ever offered the alleged $40 million agreement.
Ashley St. Clair’s Alleged $40 Million NDA: What Happened?
According to St. Clair, the alleged nondisclosure agreement arrived approximately two months after she gave birth to her son with Musk in 2024. She said Jared Birchall, Musk’s money manager, sent the document through a disappearing message on the encrypted messaging service Signal.
St. Clair told The New York Times that she had no formal financial agreement with Musk at the time. The document therefore left her feeling that financial support could depend on accepting restrictions on what she could say about their relationship.
She described her understanding of the situation in stark terms:
“If you would like any kind of support, sign this.”
The alleged agreement would have prevented her from discussing Musk or anything related to their relationship indefinitely, according to her account. She also said its restrictions would extend to her heirs.
Under the terms she described, St. Clair could tell their child who his father was but could not disclose that information to her older child or anyone else.
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The Alleged Payment Terms Behind the NDA
The reported $40 million figure has attracted considerable attention, but St. Clair’s description of the proposed payment structure contains specific details that should not be overlooked.
She said the arrangement included a $15 million lump-sum payment, followed by $100,000 a month for 21 years. Those figures describe the financial terms she recounted, rather than establishing that a $40 million offer was made.
Musk has publicly denied that St. Clair was offered the agreement. The existence and terms of the alleged NDA have not been established as undisputed facts.
St. Clair said she ultimately refused to sign, explaining that her decision was rooted in her principles rather than simply the financial or legal consequences.
According to her account, she told Birchall she could not agree to the document. She said he responded:
“Why? Sounds like you want to use your speech as a weapon.”
St. Clair rejected that framing, saying her children’s dignity was not something she was prepared to exchange for financial support.
“My children’s dignity is not a commodity,” she told him.
She also said Musk never personally discussed the alleged NDA with her.
For St. Clair, the dispute goes beyond a proposed financial arrangement. She believes her experience matters partly because other people who have dealt with Musk may be unable to speak publicly.
“People need to understand that part of the reason I’m featured prominently in the documentary is that other people cannot speak,” she said.
She added:
“I don’t want to have to speak publicly. I don’t want to be doing this interview right now. But there is a web of N.D.A.s. I feel a moral obligation to talk about my experience.”
Elon Musk Responds to the $40 Million NDA Allegation
Musk has directly challenged St. Clair’s account, making the disagreement a central part of the story.
After TMZ reported that St. Clair had rejected a $40 million agreement, Musk responded on X, formerly Twitter:
“She was never offered that and has a history of making false claims.”
He also criticised Gibney’s documentary in a separate post, writing:
“Gibney just assembled a hit list of people who either have an axe to grind or don’t even know me.”
Musk did not respond to requests for comment from The New York Times for its October 9 interview.
The distinction is important: St. Clair has described what she says were the agreement’s terms and why she refused, while Musk denies that the offer was made. The documentary’s inclusion of her account does not independently establish the allegation.
How Ashley St. Clair Met Elon Musk in 2023
The story began before the alleged NDA dispute. St. Clair said she first connected with Musk in 2023 while working for the conservative satirical news outlet The Babylon Bee.
At the time, she was a single mother with another child from a previous relationship and had built a public profile through political commentary on Twitter.
According to St. Clair, Musk followed her on the platform and initiated a private conversation. His attention quickly became a talking point in conservative political circles.
“I don’t think people understand the number of eyeballs that were on everyone Elon interacted with at that time,” she said.
She recalled receiving congratulatory messages from people in the MAGA movement.
“I was getting ‘Congratulations!’ texts from people in MAGA. Right away, there were people saying, ‘She’s going to be his next baby mama.’”
St. Clair said she was about to turn 24 at the time.
Their First Meeting and Emotionally Intimate Relationship
St. Clair said their first in-person meeting followed their private messages on Twitter. During an interview for The Babylon Bee, she recalled Musk asking:
“Feel like going to Providence, R.I.?”
She said she was on his plane within an hour.
In Providence, they shared a hotel room. St. Clair recalled Musk falling asleep while listening to a podcast about Kublai Khan.
“It was all very surreal,” she said.
Asked whether she considered their relationship romantic, St. Clair described it as emotionally close, while acknowledging that she had idealised Musk at the time.
“I would say it felt emotionally intimate. We were in contact every day,” she said.
She explained how his public image had shaped her perception of him.
“At the time, he was this savior of free speech, and I was very wrapped up in all of that. I’d say there was a bit of idolization going on, too.”
Her reflections place the relationship within the political environment in which both had become prominent, particularly among people who viewed Musk as a defender of free speech.
Musk Encouraged St. Clair to Have More Children, She Says
St. Clair said discussions about having a child together began during a vacation in St. Barts in January 2024.
According to her account, Musk encouraged her to have a large family.
“You should have 10 kids! Let’s have a kid. My only limited resource is time.”
St. Clair said she wanted more children and saw the possibility of having a child with a wealthy partner as a way to provide financial security for her family.
She also described the stigma she experienced as a single mother within the conservative circles in which she participated.
“Also, within MAGA, it was seen as a stain on your character to be a single mom. So to have this bastion of the right who is very validating of that choice — that meant so much to me.”
Her concerns grew after she became pregnant and watched the custody dispute between Musk and musician Grimes, with whom Musk shares three children.
St. Clair said the dispute prompted her to consider how she might protect herself and her child.
“I have to protect myself.”
The alleged NDA was presented later, according to her account, after she had given birth in 2024.
Why Ashley St. Clair Appears in Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ Documentary
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, Musk is a nearly four-hour documentary examining Musk’s rise in technology and business, his political influence, his ownership of Twitter—now known as X—and the power concentrated in his companies and public persona.
The film features interviews with people who have known Musk, including St. Clair, his first wife, Justine Wilson, and other former associates and critics.
Gibney said he first met St. Clair in December 2025. In an email to The New York Times, he explained why he considered her account important.
“Beyond Musk’s baby obsession, Ashley had a front-row seat during the 2024 campaign and was able to tell me things I didn’t know about Musk’s motivations,” he said.
St. Clair said she was not nervous about participating because she knew some of Gibney’s previous work, including Going Clear. She said she appreciated his willingness to examine difficult subjects.
“I liked that he didn’t have any fear. He has a history of treating facts and narratives with respect.”
After watching the finished film, she said the similarities between the experiences described by different participants were both reassuring and unsettling.
“What was both validating and terrifying was the way the narratives harmonized. Me, Justine [Wilson, Musk’s first wife], Sam Harris [the New Atheist philosopher] and Geoffrey Hinton [the so-called Godfather of A.I.] — there are so many similarities in our experiences with Elon.”
She continued:
“I think when you’re able to take people who have never spoken to each other and harmonize a narrative, that is the truth.”
This is St. Clair’s interpretation of the documentary. Similarities between interviewees’ accounts may provide context, but they do not independently prove every allegation.
The film also uses an AI-generated version of Musk, constructed from his own public statements, to examine his public persona and ideas about technology. It is not a recording of Musk participating in an interview for the documentary.
Musk premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2026 and began its theatrical release in October. Musk has criticised its approach and questioned the motivations of people featured in it.
St. Clair’s Separate Legal Dispute Over Grok
The NDA controversy is not the only public dispute involving St. Clair and Musk-associated companies.
In January 2026, she filed a lawsuit involving xAI and related companies over alleged altered and nonconsensual deepfake images created or circulated using Grok, the company’s AI chatbot.
Her complaint alleged that the technology had been used to generate and distribute altered images of her on X.
In June 2026, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York ordered the case transferred to the Northern District of Texas. The ruling addressed the location of the litigation; it did not establish the truth of every allegation in the complaint.
The lawsuit remains separate from the alleged NDA dispute. The two matters involve different claims and should be evaluated independently. The deepfake allegations also raise broader concerns about the use of generative AI to create harmful depictions of real people without their consent.
Ashley St. Clair Reflects on Leaving the MAGA Movement
St. Clair’s interview also examines her departure from the conservative movement and her reassessment of her previous public commentary.
“It happened slowly and then all at once.”
She acknowledged that she had witnessed misogyny and racism without speaking out.
“There were moments where I wasn’t OK with the things I was witnessing — the misogyny, the racism — but I was a coward.”
St. Clair rejected the suggestion that her political shift happened only because of her conflict with Musk. She said she understood the consequences of speaking publicly against him.
“I’m not dumb. I was aware what would happen when I came out against Elon, and I was OK with it.”
She also pointed to a video recorded before she became pregnant in which she said she was not a conservative.
“There’s a video from before I was pregnant where I say I’m not a conservative. So there were already moments where you can see these breaks from the conservative establishment.”
Her reassessment extends to her past racist, transphobic and misogynistic commentary. Recalling a notification about hospitals ending gender-affirming care, she described feeling remorse about her previous positions.
“When I read that, I felt immensely remorseful.”
She added:
“I know that probably would’ve happened without me, but I still feel guilt for my role.”
St. Clair connected that reflection to her responsibilities as a parent.
“My only job after years of propaganda and dishonesty and being involved in MAGA for almost a decade is to be honest and set an example for my kids.”
She continued:
“My job is not to set a new narrative about myself. My only job is to be held accountable.”
Her comments frame her political evolution not simply as a break with former allies, but as an acknowledgment of the impact her own public statements may have had on others.
What Ashley St. Clair Says the Musk Controversy Is Really About
St. Clair said her participation in the documentary was about more than her personal relationship with Musk. She sees the story as part of a wider debate about wealth, influence and public trust.
“This is about a deeper rot in our society, where we’ve equated capital with morality,” she said.
She added:
“There’s a level of societal and individual trust that we give to people if they have money.”
For St. Clair, the alleged NDA represents a question about whether financial power can influence what people are willing or able to say publicly. Musk, however, disputes that the offer existed, and his denial remains central to any balanced account of the controversy.
St. Clair also expressed frustration at being repeatedly asked to explain Musk’s personality because she had spent time with him.
“People treat me like I’m some Elon psychoanalyst,” she told The New York Times.
She added:
“It’s annoying and laborious.”
Her remarks highlight the tension surrounding her public role: her experiences are being used to examine a powerful figure, while she is also trying to define herself beyond her relationship with him.
Tech Billionaires and Hollywood
The documentary Musk examines the relationship between technology, wealth and public influence, themes that also appear in films about other major tech figures. Find out why Jesse Eisenberg declined the role in Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to The Social Network.
Conclusion
Ashley St. Clair’s interview has added a detailed personal account to the debate surrounding Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary. She has described an emotionally intimate relationship with Musk, conversations about having children, an alleged NDA she says she rejected, and a broader reassessment of her former political identity.
The alleged $40 million agreement remains disputed. St. Clair has described a proposed $15 million lump sum and monthly payments of $100,000 for 21 years, while Musk has denied that she was offered the agreement. Her separate lawsuit involving alleged Grok-related deepfake images also remains distinct from the NDA controversy.
Ultimately, St. Clair says she wants to acknowledge her past, explain her experiences and take responsibility for her actions. As she told The New York Times:
“My only job is to be held accountable.”
Source and Research Disclaimer: This article has been prepared based on the reporting, interviews, public statements, court records and documentary information identified in the sources below. It reflects the information available in those materials and does not imply independent verification beyond what the supplied reporting and records support. The alleged NDA offer is disputed by Musk, and the claims in the separate Grok-related lawsuit are allegations rather than established findings.
Sources
- The New York Times: Original interview with Ashley St. Clair, October 9, 2026
- TMZ: Musk’s denial of the alleged $40 million NDA offer
- The Washington Post: St. Clair, Gibney and the documentary’s AI approach
- The Los Angeles Times: Background on Gibney’s documentary and Musk’s response
- Reuters: Gibney’s stated goals for the documentary
- Federal court record: St. Clair v. X.AI Holdings Corp., June 23, 2026
- TheWrap: The documentary’s theatrical release schedule
- Apple TV: Documentary listing, director and runtime
Featured Image Credit: Instagram @asc.sys
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