Key facts
- Elon Musk is suing German broadcaster ZDF for falsely claiming he incited anti-migrant violence in Belfast.
- ZDF's report alleged Musk called for a "hunt for migrants."
- ZDF has removed the disputed passage from its report and called its wording "misleading."
- Musk's lawyer described the outcome as a clear victory and the original claim as libelous defamation.
Elon Musk has initiated legal action against German public broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) over a claim that he helped incite anti-migrant violence in Belfast. The broadcaster confirmed that Musk, through a German law firm, sent a cease-and-desist letter regarding the opening segment of its June 12 "ZDFheute live" program, titled "Riots in Belfast — How Musk Fueled the Protests." ZDF subsequently removed the disputed passage and added a transparency disclaimer stating the wording had been removed for legal reasons. Musk's lawyer, Joachim Steinhöfel, labeled the outcome a clear victory, stating the original claim was "libelous defamation" and "journalistically completely unjustifiable."