Grimes Takes A Swing At Trump While Blasting Elon Musk Over Messy Custody Battle

Elon Musk and musician Grimes (real name Claire Boucher) dated from about 2018 to 2022, although their relationship was tumultuous due to them continually breaking up and getting back together. They share three children: X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl, and Techno Mechanicus. In September 2023 in Texas, Musk sued Grimes for custody of their kids. Then Grimes sued him right back in California court later that month, filing a "petition to establish parental relationship" (via Daily Mail).

Speaking to Business Insider, the Travis County clerk's office said the legal action was resolved in August 2024, although they wouldn't share anything more. The outlet also reported that Grimes took to Musk's website X, formerly known as Twitter, to say she has custody every other week. As of writing, there isn't a tweet on Grimes' account saying so.

Grimes alluded to the custody drama in another X post. A fan replied to one of Grimes' tweets about creating art and asked her to release her "Book 1" album. In the response, Grimes seemingly swiped at Musk and his new ally, Donald Trump. "Spent a year locked in battle in a state with terrible mothers rights having my Instagram posts and modeling used as reasons I shouldn't have my kids and fighting and detaching from the love of my life as he becomes unrecognizable to me, with a fraction of his resources (or iq/strategy experience), all the while I didn't see one of my babies for 5 months," Grimes said.

In another X reply from that thread, Grimes answered someone questioning why she couldn't release music during the custody battle. Her account of the legal trouble was harrowing: "Because the threat of losing ur kids while going bankrupt fighting for them is not very conducive to creative thoughts. I just slept and cried every minute I wasn't explicitly fighting for my kids during that year."

Her subtle Donald Trump callout isn't the first time Grimes has spoken out against the President-elect online. Back in 2018, Grimes posted on X and refuted claims that she was a Trump fan: "i support the right to unionize and i've never supported trump calm down lol."

Although they haven't always liked each other, Musk and Trump are now like two peas in a pod. They've reportedly been together pretty much constantly since Election Day 2024, including at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Although Trump openly shaded Musk for hanging around Mar-a-Lago too much, he traveled to Texas with Musk to watch a rocket launch at SpaceX. Speaking about the men's bond, William Galston from the Brookings Institution think tank told PBS, "Trump has the biggest possible regard for people who break the rules and get away with it. Musk has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment in doing that." However, Musk's reported feud with a Trump aide could hint at trouble in paradise for the billionaires.