The One Word Vivian Wilson Used To Describe Texting With Estranged Dad Elon Musk

Elon Musk has over a dozen children with four different women, but he's not on good terms with all his kids. In particular, Musk has an estranged relationship with Vivian Jenna Wilson. Vivian is one of the twins born to Musk and with his ex-wife Justine Wilson, and she came out as transgender in 2020. Musk has publicly criticized his daughter for this, and Vivian has fired back at Musk with some scathing insults on social media (notably not on X, formerly known as Twitter, which is owned by Musk). In a 2025 interview with Teen Vogue, Vivian talked about how the relationship with her father devolved, including one of the final text messages that he sent to her. It was back during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Vivian said, "One of the last interactions we ever had was arguing about wearing a mask. He sent me this gif of a sheep and said, 'Stop being sheeple.' It was cringe," via Teen Vogue. Cringe indeed, and not a very nuanced take on the situation, nor the type of interaction you'd necessarily expect between a father and a child.

It does, however, match up with what Musk was saying publicly at the time about the pandemic. He complained about lockdowns, and he perpetuated unproven claims about COVID on what was then called Twitter. It also fits with a pattern that Musk seems to have of insulting those who don't agree with him, apparently even if that is one of his children.

Vivian Wilson's reveal about her last direct contact with Elon Musk comes amidst his ongoing public onslaught onto his daughter for being transgender. It's just one of the tragic details about the lives of Musk's kids. In a 2024 interview with The Daily Wire on X, Musk said he had been "tricked" into approving the transgender related medical care that Vivian started receiving at 16. Musk also said in The Daily Wire interview, "I lost my son ... [he was] killed by the woke mind virus."

After that interview, Vivian had one of her own with NBC News in which she denied that Musk didn't know the side effects of the gender affirming care she would be receiving. She also called him out for being a distant father when she was growing up.

In 2022 when she was 18, Vivian applied to legally change her name, saying, "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form," via The Guardian. Her mother Justine Wilson hasn't gotten overly involved in the drama between Musk and Vivian, but she has publicly supported their daughter. Justine told Teen Vogue, "Vivian has always had an uncompromising sense of who she is — and who she needs to be. She is big, fierce, wild multi-layered magic."