Cards Against Humanity, the satirical and often vulgar card game, announced Friday it would be suing controversial billionaire Elon Musk for $15 million.
The company made the announcement on social media and said the lawsuit stems from alleged illegal storage and clearing by one of Musk’s companies on a parcel of land that Cards Against Humanity purchased in 2017 as part of a progressive political stunt.
The company behind the card game purchased a plot of land along the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to act as a roadblock for the Trump Administration if the former president’s proposed border wall were to become a reality.
More than 150,000 people donated $15 to raise money to purchase the land, retain legal counsel and construct a 30-foot medieval trebuchet catapult. The crowdsourcing effort culminated in a six-day series of surprise giveaways and political causes called Cards Against Humanity Saves America.
On Friday, Cards Against Humanity said it would be adding a seventh day to its previous campaign, this time going after one of the world’s richest people.
“Seven years ago, 150,000 people paid us $15 to protect a pristine parcel of land on the US-Mexico border from racist billionaire Donald Trump’s very stupid wall,” the company’s expletive-laden statement reads on a dedicated website. “Unfortunately, an even richer, more racist billionaire⸺Elon Musk⸺snuck up on us from behind and completely f****d that land with gravel, tractors, and space garbage.”
Cards Against Humanity alleges that Musk’s SpaceX has been using its land to store construction materials without the company’s permission.
Officials for the company say they confronted SpaceX regarding the unapproved storing and dumping on the property, which resulted in a 12-hour “lowball” offer from the rocket and space technology company to purchase the land.
“We said, ‘Go f**k yourself, Elon Musk. We’ll see you in court’” the statement reads.
According to reporting in Reuters, SpaceX has attempted for the past several years to buy out land owners near its south Texas facilities and has used its vast might to lobby local legislators.
The article from Reuters paints a picture of SpaceX using its political power to skirt local permitting laws, develop the land at breakneck speed, purchase properties from longtime residents and close off roads to locals when SpaceX activity is taking place.
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Rocket parts are displayed during a news conference at the SpaceX Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Aug. 25, 2022. (Getty Images) -
SpaceX Starship shown ahead of its fourth flight test at Boca Chica beach on June 05, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Getty Images) -
SpaceX head Elon Musk during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on August 25, 2022 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. (Photo by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
A resident near the SpaceX development noticed the parcel of land owned by Cards Against Humanity had been cleared and was being used by Musk’s company to store construction materials.
On Thursday, Cards Against Humanity filed a $15 million lawsuit against SpaceX in Cameron County District Court, accusing the company of destruction of property and illegal trespassing, according to Reuters.
Officials for the card game company say that, even if the land is restored to its former state, they allege that Musk has already damaged the company’s reputation.
“150,000 people gave us their hard-earned money, and in exchange we vowed to protect this land from racist billionaires and their dumb vanity projects,” Cards Against Humanity stated on its lawsuit website. “We promised we’d use every legal tool at our disposal to protect this land from bullies like Trump and Musk (who’s spending millions to get Trump elected and also wants to build the stupid wall). If we don’t take action now, why would anyone ever trust us again?”
If successful in its suit, Cards Against Humanity says it will split the $15 million payment among the 150,000 original contributors to the 2017 crowdfunding effort, up to $100 each — which explains why the company’s lawsuit webpage has the URL: elonowesyou100dollars.com.
Neither Musk nor SpaceX have publicly commented on the pending litigation. Requests for comment by Reuters were not returned, the publication said.