Estranged Wife of Google Co-Founder Denies Having Affair with Elon Musk: 'Outright Lie,' Says Lawyer
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Nicole Shanahan, the estranged wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has denied having an affair with Tesla and Space-X CEO Elon Musk.
Shanahan's lawyer Bryan Freedman rejected the claim in a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, three days after the Wall Street Journal reported Musk, 51, and Shanahan, 33, had engaged in a "brief affair" last fall.
"Make no mistake, any suggestion that Nicole had an affair with Elon Musk is not only a outright lie but also defamatory," Freedman said in the statement, which was first published by the Daily Mail.
Musk has also denied having any romantic involvement with Shanahan, a lawyer, philanthropist and founder of patent management company ClearAccessIP, according to Business Insider.
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WSJ has defended its story, saying in a statement, "We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting," per the New York Post.
The publication did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Miikka Skaffari/Getty
On Sunday, the billionaire replied to a Twitter user who shared the WSJ article with a caption stating that Musk allegedly slept with "Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wife leading to the couple's divorce filing" and that "the two are apparently no longer friends."
"This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!" Musk hit back in a post on Twitter Sunday night. "I've only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic."
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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Elon Musk
Brin filed for a dissolution of marriage from Shanahan back in early January, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The pair share a young daughter, who Brin has requested custody of.
Brin cited "irreconcilable differences" in his separation from Shanahan, Business Insider first reported, noting that the pair owned joint assets but how they were to be divided was "to be determined."
He also said that he is not seeking spousal support from Shanahan and requested she not be awarded it either.
Ian Tuttle/Getty
Musk reflected on the downsides of the spotlight via Twitter on Monday, noting, "the amount of attention on me has gone supernova, which super sucks."
"Unfortunately, even trivial articles about me generate a lot of clicks," he continued, later adding that he "will try my best to be heads down focused on doing useful things for civilization."
Meanwhile, his mother — model, author and activist Maye Musk — has thanked some of the billionaire's friends for publicly standing by her son.