New York Times publishes fresh details on the alleged affair that Elon Musk and Nicole Shanahan both deny

• The New York Times reported that Nicole Shanahan took ketamine with Elon Musk in 2021 and later said they had sex.

• Shanahan, a lawyer who's Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate, was married to Sergey Brin at the time.

• Shanahan and Musk have both previously denied having an affair.

The New York Times reported that Nicole Shanahan took ketamine with Elon Musk at a private party in 2021 and later told her husband at the time, the Google cofounder Sergey Brin, that she had sex with the Tesla CEO.

The Times published the article about Shanahan, a lawyer campaigning as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate for the 2024 presidential election, on Wednesday, citing multiple sources.

The report discusses details of her relationship with Brin, whom she married in 2018 before the pair finalized their divorce in May 2023, and sheds new light on a past allegation that she had an affair with Musk in 2021, which both Shanahan and Musk have denied.

During Shanahan's marriage to Brin, she partied with Silicon Valley's upper echelon and used recreational drugs, including taking ketamine and cocaine, the Times reported, citing eight sources as well as documents the publication viewed. Ketamine is a "dissociative anesthetic" that can have some hallucinogenic effects, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Ketamine can be legally prescribed under federal law and recent research indicates it could be used to treat depression, but it's also a popular party drug.

Sources told the Times that Shanahan and Brin were affected by stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and their daughter's autism diagnosis. Shanahan started to go out and attend events without Brin, the Times reported.

The outlet said documents showed that "at a party in early 2021 in Miami, Ms. Shanahan was so intoxicated by drugs and alcohol that she required an IV infusion."

Three sources told the Times that Shanahan and Musk had a sexual encounter in December 2021 during a private party in Miami. They both took ketamine and "disappeared together for several hours," the Times reported, citing related documents and four people who'd been briefed on the matter.

Musk said in March that he was taking a "small amount" of ketamine every other week and that he had a prescription.

Three sources told the Times that Shanahan later informed Brin she had had sex with Musk, with the outlet reporting that "she also relayed the details to friends, family and advisers."

Brin filed for divorce from Shanahan one month later, in January 2022, citing "irreconcilable differences."

Representatives for Shanahan, Musk, and Brin didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider ahead of publication.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in July 2022 that an "alleged affair" between Shanahan and Musk had created a rift between the Tesla CEO and Brin, whom many considered to have a close and amicable friendship.

Musk denied the affair with Shanahan that July, saying in an X post that the Journal report was "total bs." At the time, Musk's relationship with the singer Grimes, with whom he shares three children, had ended.

"This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!" Musk wrote. "I've only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic."

He added in another post: "Haven't even had sex in ages (sigh)."

Musk also posted a photo of himself with Brin, which he said had been taken at the party the previous day. (His biographer Walter Isaacson later said that Brin had "tried to avoid" the selfie).

"We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting," the Journal said in a statement at the time.

Shanahan also denied any affair, telling People that the speculation was "utterly debilitating."

"To be known because of a sexual act is one of the most humiliating things," she told the outlet, adding, "I remember feeling like everything I had ever worked for was under siege by a press cycle that had no idea what was going on in my life and who I was."

In response to questions from a Times reporter, Shanahan wrote, "I'm shocked the NYT is letting you run something like this."

Correction: May 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated what Elon Musk said in March about his ketamine use. He said he was taking it every other week, not weekly.

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