Elon Musk’s friends ‘hated’ Amber Heard, new book claims

The SpaceX founder told the memoir’s author that he is often a ‘fool for love’

Elon Musk’s brother and friends “hated” actor Amber Heard while the pair were dating, according a new memoir about the SpaceX founder.

The biography titled Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson – which was released on Monday (11 September) – recounts how shaken X/Twitter owner Musk was by the breakdown of his romantic relationship with Heard.

In an excerpt from the book published inThe Times, Isaacson says that Musk’s “brother and friends hated [Heard] with a passion that made their distaste for Justine [Musk’s first wife] pale”.

In the book, Kimbal Musk, the tech mogul’s brother, tells Isaacson that Heard was a “nightmare”.

“It’s really sad that he falls in love with these people who are really mean to him,” Kimbal said. “They’re beautiful, no question, but they have a very dark side and Elon knows they are toxic.”

The Independent has contacted representatives of Amber Heard for comment.

Author Isaacson writes in the book: “Musk was not bred for domestic tranquility. Most of his romantic relationships involve psychological turmoil.”

Meanwhile, Canadian musician Grimes, whom Musk dated and shares three children with, told the author that Musk is attracted to “chaotic evil”.

“My Dungeons and Dragons alignment would be chaotic good. Whereas Amber’s is probably chaotic evil,” she said, pointing towards Musk and Grimes’s shared interests.

“He’s attracted to chaotic evil. It’s about his father and what he grew up with, and he is quick to fall back into being treated badly. He associates love with being mean or abusive. There’s an Errol-Amber through line.”

Elon Musk and Grimes began dating in 2018 and welcomed their first child together two years later

(Getty Images)

According to Isaacson, Musk first took an interest in the Aquaman actor after seeing her in 2013’s Machete Kills. Isaacson documented the beginnings of their tumultuous romance in the biography’s “Rocky Relationships” chapter.

Musk apparently tried to arrange a dinner with Heard, who was dating Johnny Depp at the time, but she did not show up. They connected several years later, though it is unclear when their relationship became romantic.

Depp claimed in court papers in his 2022 defamation trial against Heard that Musk and Heard secretly began dating in 2015. Meanwhile, Heard said in court she was not acquainted with Musk until the 2016 Met Gala after Depp “stood [her] up”.

In April 2017, Musk and Heard made their relationship Instagram official during a holiday in Australia. However, in August 2017, it was reported that the pair had split and Musk confirmed the breakup by commenting on one of Heard’s Instagram posts, writing: “Although Amber and I did break up, we are still friends, remain close and love one another.”

He added: ”Long distance relationships, when both partners have intense work obligations are always difficult, but who knows what the future holds,.”

Amber Heard photographed in 2019

(Getty Images for L'Oreal)

The pair were rumoured to have rekindled their relationship later that same year but split for a second time in February 2018. Heard reflected on the relationship in an interview, saying that she and Musk had bonded over “intellectual curiosity, ideas and conversation, a shared love for science.”

“Elon and I had a beautiful relationship,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And we have a beautiful friendship now, one that was based on our core values.”

Musk tells Isaacson in the book that he is often a “fool for love”, describing his relationship with Heard as “brutal”.

Meanwhile, Heard acknowledges that, while she still loves her ex-boyfriend “very much”, he tends to be attracted to women who may ultimately not be the best for him.

“Elon loves fire, and sometimes it burns him,” she remarks.

When asked by Isaacson why he tends to fall for these types of women, Musk reportedly laughed and replied, “Because I’m just a fool for love. I am often a fool, but especially for love.”

His romantic relationships are well documented. He shares five children with his first wife, Justine and married Talulah Riley, the British actor, twice. He also dated Canadian singer Grimes, with whom he shares three children: X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk and Techno Mechanicus (the third child’s birth was kept a secret until it was revealed in the memoir).

Musk also shares twins – Strider Sekhar Sirius and Azure Astra Alice – with one of his employees, Shivon Zilis, via IVF.