Elon Musk invokes rapper plea

A U.S. securities regulator could now ask of Elon Musk: Will the fake Slim Shady, please shut up?

As reported by Reuters, Mr. Musk on Tuesday likened himself to the rapper Eminem in seeking to toss his 2018 agreement with the top U.S. securities regulator requiring the Tesla Inc. chief executive to obtain preapproval for his tweets.

In a filing in federal court in Manhattan, Mr. Musk also renewed his effort to quash a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena for details on whether he and Tesla are complying with their disclosure requirements under the 2018 consent decree, according to the wire service.

The SEC is investigating Musk’s Nov. 6, 2021, tweet asking his followers whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stake, to cover tax bills on stock options. He has since sold about $16.4 billion of his shares in the electric car company.

Mr. Musk claimed in his latest filing that requiring Tesla lawyers to vet some of his tweets was an unconstitutional prior restraint on his speech, violating the First Amendment.

"The (SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; they tried to shut me down," Musk said, quoting from Eminem's 2002 song "Without Me."