SpaceX CEO Elon Musk walks down pit lane with one of his sons after the 2023 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, October 22, 2023; Grimes attends the Marvel Studios' “Captain Marvel” premiere on March 4, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images
- Elon Musk and Grimes have filed child custody lawsuits against each other in Texas and California.
- The former couple has three children together, including three-year-old X, who is often seen with Musk.
- Court documents show that Musk and Grimes argue over which state the children actually live in.
Elon Musk and Grimes are in a contentious custody battle over the former couple's three children: 3-year-old X Æ A-12, also known as Baby X, 2-year-old Exa, and 1-year-old Child and Tau.
The billionaire and the musician have filed dueling lawsuits against each other in two different states, Texas and California, marking their first major battle in court: It's about finding out where the children actually live and in which state the case should proceed . The outcome of the case could have serious consequences because Texas caps support payments for three children at $2,760 per month, while California has no cap.
Here's a timeline of the custody battle, including when the lawsuits were filed and the allegations Musk and Grimes made against each other in court.
April 22, 2022: Grimes filed a petition in Los Angeles
Grimes claimed in a recent court document that she first filed a motion for “determination of parental relationship” in Los Angeles on April 22, 2022. Business Insider was unable to independently verify the application in LA County's online court database.
The document would have been submitted a few months before the birth of her third child, Techno Mechanicus or Tau, via surrogate in June 2022. Musk also fathered another child, Exa Dark Sideræl, with Grimes via surrogate in December 2021.
Musk began purchasing Twitter (now X) in April 2022. The couple had flown to visit Grimes' parents on April 9, but Musk stayed behind at the hotel in “stress mode,” debating whether to buy the social media company, Grimes told Walter Isaacson. The billionaire later made his $44 billion bid on April 14.
What followed was a turbulent year for Grimes and Musk. The billionaire began sleeping at the social media company's headquarters and became embroiled in a series of political disputes.
That same year, Grimes also learned that Musk had separately fathered a set of twins with a director of one of his startups. According to Isaacson's biography of Musk, Grimes learned about Musk's twins with Shivon Zilis in July 2022 through a Business Insider report.
In August 2023, Grimes and Musk traveled to Tokyo together, but Musk said in his petition that their relationship fell apart shortly afterward. He said Grimes flew back to California on a commercial flight on Aug. 23 and her two youngest children “have not been in Texas” since then, court documents said.
September 7, 2023: Musk is suing Grimes
Musk sued Grimes in Texas in early September to “establish the parent-child relationship” with her three children.
In his petition, he said he took legal action after realizing Grimes “would not return to Texas with the younger children.” Meanwhile, her eldest son, X, had stayed with Musk in Texas.
On the same day Musk filed his custody lawsuit, Grimes wrote a post on Up until that moment, I had never been allowed to see a photo of these children, even though the situation completely tore my family apart.
Grimes and Zilis later announced on social media that they were no longer fighting.
September 29, 2023: Grimes is suing Musk
Weeks after the Texas lawsuit, Grimes sued Musk in San Francisco, demanding primary and joint custody of their three children.
Meanwhile, Musk waded into the immigration debate, visiting the U.S.-Mexico border on September 28 and calling for a Trump-style wall.
Ten days earlier, Musk took his three-year-old son X to a meeting with the Turkish president in New York. The event led to an awkward exchange in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked Musk where his “wife” was.
“Oh, she’s in San Francisco,” Musk replied. “We're separated, I'm mainly looking after him.”
October 6, 2023: Grimes says the kids don't live in Texas
Grimes responded to Musk's lawsuit in October, arguing that Texas was not the proper venue for the custody dispute. In the filing, Grimes said that two of the children had lived with her in California for more than six months before the litigation began and that California was their home state.
She acknowledged that one of the children, X, was not currently in California, but said he was only absent from the state because of her objection.
On October 5, Musk learned that the US Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating him over his Twitter purchase, while on October 7, Musk's X struggled to combat misinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas. His company continues to experience a mass exodus of advertisers due to reports of unchecked hate speech on the site.
November 3, 2023: Grimes tracks down Musk
Grimes revealed in court papers on November 3 the lengths her team went to to serve custody papers on Musk, including tracking his private jets.
Also on November 3, Musk met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for an interview to discuss AI regulation, following a global summit on the topic.
November 20, 2023: Musk accuses Grimes of trying to circumvent Texas courts
Musk filed an amended petition on Nov. 20 accusing Grimes of moving to California this year to avoid the jurisdiction of Texas, where the billionaire could be ordered to pay significantly lower child support payments.
The petition was filed just days after Musk faced backlash for apparently sharing an anti-Semitic post on X. Tesla owners and investors alike spoke out against the billionaire. Then on November 27, Musk appeared to go on what he called an “apology tour.”
November 28, 2023: Musk raises security concerns
Musk asked a Texas judge to restrict access to his custody battle to protect his children.
That same week, Musk sat down for a bizarre interview with Andrew Sorkin at the Dealbook Summit. At the event, Musk told X-advertisers who fled the platform to “go fuck yourself” and even directed his comments directly at Disney CEO Bob Iger.
November 30: Grimes says Musk won't let nannies testify on her behalf
In court papers filed in late November, Grimes accused Musk of not allowing her children's nannies to testify on her behalf. Family law experts previously told Insider that interviews with nannies could be used to establish where the children primarily live.
Grimes said Musk used nondisclosure agreements he previously had the nannies sign to prevent them from speaking. However, she claimed that Musk cherry-picked information from the nannies for his benefit.
On November 30, Tesla held its biggest event of the year – Cybertruck deliveries. The 30-minute event drew the ire of some Tesla fans after Musk reneged on some of his promises for the vehicle, including price and range.
December 4: Musk explains the evidence that the children live primarily in Texas
In an amended statement of claim filed in a Texas court, Musk included Grimes' own social media posts from recent years in which the musician both explicitly said and clearly implied that she lives in Austin, Texas – including posts from months after she claimed to have moved to California with her two youngest children.
Musk also described aspects of the children's lives in Texas, including their doctor's visits and their schooling. The billionaire also filed another motion to seal the case, arguing his safety and that of his children would be at risk as long as the files remained open to the public.
Meanwhile, on social media, Musk has continued to crack down on advertisers withdrawing from his social media platform. On Thursday, the billionaire took aim at Iger again, saying the Disney CEO should be “fired immediately.”
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