Ashley St. Clair
Ashley St. Clair | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 31, 1998 Florida |
| Occupations | Influencer, author, political commentator |
| Children | 2 |
Ashley St. Clair (born July 31, 1998) is an American influencer, author, and political commentator.[1][2] She became an outspoken proponent of conservative and anti-transgender politics. She and Elon Musk had a child together in 2024. In 2026, she denounced her anti-trans activism.
Early life and political commentary
[edit]Ashley St. Clair was born on July 31, 1998, in Florida and was raised in Colorado. She is Jewish.[3] She became an outspoken proponent of right-wing ideologies and made appearances on Fox News to talk about declining birth rates.[4] She is a longtime writer for the right-wing satirical news site The Babylon Bee, and served as a brand ambassador for Turning Point USA.
She has amassed over one million followers on Twitter, and has endorsed President Donald Trump.[3] St. Clair wrote the children's book Elephants Are Not Birds, which she billed as an unapologetic rebuke of transgender acceptance, and which was published by the Christian conservative BRAVE Books. The book follows Kevin the Elephant as he "learns that even though he can sing, he is not a bird, even if Culture insists that he is".[3][4][2]
Relationship with Elon Musk
[edit]St. Clair first met Twitter owner Elon Musk on the site in 2023 and began exchanging direct messages with him.[3][4] She gave birth to Musk's son in 2024.[5] Musk was not on the child's birth certificate and had been unresponsive to St. Clair's messages despite previously acknowledging paternity in writing. Musk met their son on September 21, 2024, and spent two hours with him, followed by one hour the next day, then met him again for 30 minutes on November 30, 2024, and continued texting St. Clair thereafter.[3]
On February 14, 2025, St. Clair publicly acknowledged the child's existence and Musk's paternity. On March 31, she sold her Tesla, which she said was because her child support payments had been cut by 60% as punishment by Musk for "disobedience".[3] She sought full custody over their son and described the battle with Musk as "unplanned career suicide" and "a gap in my LinkedIn profile that can't be legally explained". St. Clair started a podcast to avoid an imminent eviction.[6]
St. Clair became a target for abuse from supporters of Musk. After the rollout of Twitter's Grok image-editing feature, St. Clair reported being deluged with images of herself that had been AI-edited to show her naked and in sexual positions, including some based on photos when she was underage. She said both Musk and Twitter did nothing to counteract the images.[1][7] She filed suit in New York State against xAI for punitive and compensatory damages.[8][9]
Political shift
[edit]In January 2026, St. Clair expressed remorse for her previous anti-trans activism in a response to criticism by American Twitter user Junlper, saying "I feel immense guilt for my role", in particular towards her child's half-sister, Vivian Wilson, and that she has been "trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans community that I’ve hurt", and expressed that she did not know how to make amends.[10][2] Musk responded by filing for full custody of their son, saying her apology implied she might try to "transition a one-year old boy."[6][11][12] Also in January 2026, St. Clair stated that politically she identifies as "dark woke."[13]
See also
[edit]- 2020s anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States
- Persecution of transgender people under the second Trump administration
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ensor, Josie (January 13, 2026). "Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend: 'X is amplifying predatory and abusive men'". The Times. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ a b c Pequeño IV, Antonio. "Musk Wants Custody Of Baby With Ashley St. Clair—Here's Why". Forbes. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f "Who is Ashley St Clair? Elon Musk vows to go for 'full custody' of son she says they share". Indy100. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ a b c "Who Is Ashley St. Clair? All About the Fourth Woman Who Welcomed a Child with Elon Musk". People.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ "Author Ashley St. Clair Says She Welcomed Elon Musk's 13th Baby 5 Months Ago". E! Online. February 15, 2025. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ a b "Elon Musk Says He's Filing for Full Custody of Son with Ashley St. Clair After She Changes Her Views to Support Trans Community". Yahoo Entertainment. January 12, 2026. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ Horton, Helena (January 5, 2026). "Mother of one of Elon Musk's sons 'horrified' at use of Grok to create fake sexualised images of her". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ Horton, Helena (January 15, 2026). "Mother of one of Elon Musk's sons sues over Grok-generated explicit images". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ "Ashley St Clair, mother of Elon Musk's child, sues xAI over Grok deepfakes". BBC.com. January 16, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ Dickson, E. J. (January 12, 2026). "Elon Musk Wants Custody of Ashley St. Clair's Child". The Cut. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ Perez, Kate. "Elon Musk seeks custody of son after Ashley St. Clair's pro-transgender post". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ Anwar, Sara (January 15, 2026). "Mother of Musk's son reacts to his threat for full custody". CNN (video). Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Dickson, E.J. (January 12, 2026). "Elon Musk Wants Custody of Child With Ashley St. Clair". The Cut. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
Then on Sunday, St. Clair took to X to recant her previous transphobic views. "Dark woke cause the other option is bootlicking feds + pedophiles + nerds," she wrote before a follower asked her how she feels about trans people "in the wake of noticing how the far right truly is."