Elon Musk 'Reduced Financial Support Substantially' After Ashley St. Clair Sued Him for Custody, Her Attorney Claims (Exclusive)

Elon Musk is retaliating after Ashley St. Clair sued him for custody of their baby son, her attorney claims.

According to St. Clair's legal team, the Tesla CEO, 53, has "financially retaliated" against his son he shares with the author, 26, after she filed a petition for custody with the New York Supreme Court in February.

"Elon Musk has financially retaliated against his own child and reduced his financial support substantially and unilaterally. He did this after Ashley was forced to bring this matter to court, when he refused to respond to her many private attempts to resolve this matter without publicity," St. Clair's legal team, Karen Rosenthal, Bikel Rosenthal & Schanfield LLP, alleges to PEOPLE in an exclusive statement.

"At the same time, he filed an emergency application to gag Ashley and prevent her from communicating about his actions. The judge denied the emergency nature of the application, even though it is still pending."

"Ashley is vigorously opposing this application in order to preserve her right to speak-out. All while Mr. Musk fashions himself a first amendment warrior and freely communicates via his owned social media platform," they claim. "Given that Mr. Musk is dedicated to transparency in government, it would be helpful if he administered his own life by the same principles."

A representative for Musk did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Back in February, St. Clair first filed for custody of her son, identified as R.S.C. She alleged in the petition that Musk is the father of the boy, who was born in September 2024 (the exact date has been redacted in the filing). She claims that Musk was not present at R.S.C.'s birth and "has met him only three (3) times and has had no involvement in his care and upbringing."

Although she stated that Musk is R.S.C's father, she also filed a paternity petition along with the custody petition.

Shortly after filing for custody, Musk was ordered to appear in a New York City court. Attorneys for Musk were to be allowed to argue why he shouldn't be forced to grant St. Clair sole custody of their son or why Musk shouldn't be forced to take a paternity test.

The New York Supreme Court judge overseeing the case, Jeffrey H. Pearlman, was also hearing arguments about whether Musk should be ordered to pay child support to St. Clair.

At the time, St. Claire's attorney Rosenthal told PEOPLE in a statement that Musk has still not accepted the court filing, either in person or via his attorneys.

"Despite requests, Mr. Musk has still not accepted service of the motion papers via his alleged attorneys, which is easy enough to do," Rosenthal said in a statement.

"As a result of avoiding personal service, he has prolonged the litigation and caused unnecessary distress. It should be noted that no attorney has opted into the NYSCEF system claiming they represent Mr. Musk," she added. "We don’t have anyone we can properly speak with. It's unnecessary gamesmanship when there’s an infant involved."

In mid-February, the conservative influencer posted an announcement to X saying that she and Musk have a child together, his 13th.

"Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father. I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child's privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause," read her announcement.

"I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment," said St. Clair. "For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child's privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting."

Musk first became a father in 2002 when his ex-wife Justine welcomed their son Nevada Alexander, who tragically died at 10 weeks old. The two went on to have five more children: twins Vivian and Griffin, 20, and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian, 19.

In 2020, two years after Musk and singer Grimes were first linked, the two announced they had welcomed their first child, X Æ A-12, together.

The former couple share two more children, a girl, Exa Dark Sideræl, and a boy, Techno Mechanicus.

A few weeks before the arrival of their second child, the tech CEO also secretly fathered twins, Strider and Azure, with Zilis, according to court documents published by Insider.

The pair then welcomed daughter Arcadia in February 2024.

In February 2025, St. Clair revealed that she and Musk had welcomed a child.

Zilis then announced that she and Musk had secretly welcomed baby No. 4, son Seldon Lycurgus, though it's unclear when.

@danielhale5132

The only one deranged or mentally ill here is Elon

@Drforbin941

ELON MUSK is a total con man

@berenicehickey9755Psych nurse here. Elon is delusional. He believes what he says. Huge sense that he is totally justified.

@Arlene21213The only reason Elon brings his child with him is as a human shield. He knows he's at risk.

@MaryNelson-cz8olProductive? Shuttles blow up, swasticar falls apart, failure as a father!

@skyeyeschi1Elon is detestable and Vivianne has confirmed what I always thought, he is a truly horrible father and person. Also, please stop using your one young son as a human shield. There is nothing admirable about that.

@jimako6Elons done nothing for humanity its so shameless

@johndowner2196

Musk and Trump are the Kings of hypocrisy and projection

@susanprather1021Musk has the emotional intelligence of a rock!

@seannedegraff3175

sounds like her mother raised a very smart child to be proud of

@BaltaemoreVivian is gorgeous and she has more class, guts and courage than Elon . She is the real MVP

@patriciap126He had no right or business in the USA govt

@keithsalter6832You go girl. You’re twice the adult your father could only dream of being. Live your life and enjoy it

@Vin-x9u

If my father named me C-3PO and then claimed I was mentally ill, I'd be angry too

@foxfireglo8290Maybe Elon shouldn’t ruin people’s lives and treat veterans like trash.

@PiratePapaG

HOLDING YOUR CHILD CLOSE TO YOU FOR PROTECTION IN INTERVIEWS YOU ARE A COWARD

@Hmm-v2o7gVivian Wilson, I hope your future life is one of immense peace and joy.

@gloriagargano1186I’m very proud of her for calling E. Musk out. Remember Musk she is NOT one of your ROBOTS!

@trueblue2503x

He claims to be the victim. FAFO , stay out of politics! Boycott tesla, Deport Muskrat! Impeach trump!

@drtzilla1293Absolutely love her attitude, Elon is a clown

@evelyncoburn9578She is right he is not a good father he is just a baby maker ,

@ragingdevi

I can't imagine having a kid like Vivian and not being proud as hell of her. Elon is such a waste

@MsPea

Grimes should be worried about her son being allowed to spend time with creepy Uncle Donald.

@riverdalep

I have no sympathy for musty. The damage he’s caused so many families.. all sympathy is gone.

@karengoodwin4828You are born with the soul you are. Feminine, Masculine, whatever combination. What a great honest soul. If this was my child I would be proud.

@queenies805

Elon Musk producing 14 children with multiple partners (what are they thinking?) pretty selfish since none of these children will grow up with a full time father. Very responsible Mr. Billionaire, what the hell is wrong with you?

@JackbnimbleJackbquick

Vivian sounds grounded. I applaud the courage. More people need to step in this fashion!

@jrfallon1370

Vivian Wilson thank you for speaking your truth!!! You are awesome!

@DerekAlcock-z1d

He has no idea why his cars are being destroyed huh,,, LMFAO all the lives you've destroyed are coming for you

@PsychoBarnyFife

Vivian is a smart beautiful woman and it is surprising that Elon is her dad. Can you imagine a young 20 year old trans woman, who spurred Elon's money, deals with the world press, and is so independent, self confident, and strong. She really is an incredible woman.

@olivebool7068

He is no genius thus guy he is a joke.

@carolrisley8781

Elon is deranged

@Silkiroth

He is so far removed from the reality of how normal people actually have to survive financially. Of course he can't comprehend why people are so angry

@Dante-d1b

Well now we know why he’s so hateful of DEI. Good on her for standing up for herself. She a better person for having nothing to do with him.

@rksherman1

Scandals don’t bother them. They are beyond shame.

@kylesuperbaby9616

Cruelty is not a political position, it’s a dangerous personality disorder

@ColleenHutchison-bh4ph

He doesn't understand what "productive" means.

@Iverson8486He Really doesn't get that what he's doing is is ruining other people's lives?!!!What a jerk!

@dinaanand6388

It's called sociopathy Elon, very common with CEOs and billionaires.

@loumac

Good on her. I am so glad she got away from him early in her life.

@etolerific

She knocked the Tea kettle over!!!! Just goes to show that you can’t buy a heart or a soul. Many blessings to whoever raised this intelligent, courageous young American.

@defendandprotect-om5hv

He can't take care of his kids and uses one as protection against the head shot.

@bradfordarthurson1315

He doesn't see that he's the crazy one

The twins' arrival came just weeks before Musk and his former partner Grimes welcomed a baby girl via a surrogate in December, despite the pair splitting up in September. She revealed the birth of Exa Dark Sideræl, who they've nicknamed Y, in a cover story for Vanity Fair. They also share 2-year-old son X Æ A-12.

At the time, she also said that she and Musk want more babies — telling the outlet, "we've always wanted at least three or four" — but the day the article was released, she tweeted that they had broken up again.

"I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birth rate and the rapidly declining birthrate," he said. "Please look at the numbers –– if people don't have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words."