A man who was filmed allegedly stalking Elon Musk‘s family has been identified as an Uber Eats worker who insists the billionaire is stalking him with 24-hour surveillance, a new report has revealed.
Brandon Collado is said to be the man behind the stalking, according to the Washington Post, after he was identified when Musk posted his balaclava-clad face to his 122 million followers Tuesday.
In the short video, the suspect confirmed to be Collado can be seen wearing a black hood driving a white Hyundai – and is confronted by a member of Elon Musk’s security team after jumping on the hood of a car Musk’s son X had been traveling in.
Collado has in turn made some unhinged comments – including that X’s mother Grimes was sending him ‘coded’ Instagram messages and that the billionaire CEO was in fact stalking him.
Musk, who was not present for the encounter, posted the footage to Twitter to ask if anyone recognized the man, before blaming the incident on a since-banned account that tracked his jet to an LA airport 23 hours prior to the unwanted interaction.
A man who was filmed allegedly stalking Elon Musk earlier in the week has been unmasked as an Uber Eats worker who insists the billionaire is stalking him
In an interview Sunday, the supposed stalker confirmed that he has an interest in Musk’s family, and said that he was being sent coded messages from the mother of Musk’s children, the pop star Grimes
The incident transpired 26 miles from the airport, at a gas station in Pasadena.
In an interview with the Post, Collado confirmed that he has an interest in Musk’s family and was the masked man in footage – while making claims that he was being sent coded messages from the mother of Musk’s children, the pop star Grimes, through the latter’s Instagram posts.
Grimes, whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher, lives in a house near the gas station where the altercation transpired.
Still, police in both LA and South Pasadena – the location of the incident – said there was ‘no evidence’ that Collado’s apparent tailing of the car linked to Musk was related to the jet-tracking account @elonjet, operated by 20-year-old college student Jack Sweeney, who runs several similar accounts.
Speaking to Post reporters Drew Harwell and Taylor Lorenz – who both were temporarily booted off Twitter this week reportedly after seeking comment for Musk on the incident – Collado claimed to be an Uber Eats Driver, and acknowledged he has an interest in both Musk, 51, and Boucher.
Boucher, 34, split with the billionaire just year after the birth of two-year-old X in 2021, but the pair have reportedly remained on good terms and co-parent their two kids.
Elon Musk posted the clip online – asking his followers if they recognize the man
According to the paper, Collado, in addition to the cryptic communication claims regarding Bouchard, claimed he had been in the musician’s neighborhood Tuesday to carry out Uber Eats orders.
However, he also told the publication that he believed that Musk – CEO of Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX – was monitoring his real-time location on a constant basis, and that the billionaire, at a whim, could enlist Uber Eats to block him from receiving delivery orders.
The outlet said it tracked down Collado using the video Musk posted to Twitter – in which a guard for the Musk family shared the license plate of the supposed stalker.
The Post then determined that Collado had rented the vehicle – a white Hyundai -through the car-sharing service Turo.
It was not immediately clear from the Post’s report if Collado lived anywhere near where the incident took place. He told the paper he had been visiting a friend in the area.
It was also reported that Grimes has been stalked recently by a man, whom she was awarded a restraining order against. Police are reportedly investigating whether or not Collado and that perpetrator are one and the same.
Musk blamed the incident on a since-banned account operated by 20-year-old college student Jack Sweeney that tracked his jet to an LA airport 23 hours prior to the unwanted interaction
Collado, meanwhile, claimed he was making deliveries when he pulled into the South Pasadena gas station at 9:45pm and was confronted by Musk’s security worker – which he said occurred without warning.
The store’s manager, Daniel Santiago, told The Post that he saw Collado’s car pull up to a spot next to his car at that point, 15 minutes before the station was set to close. He told the paper how he was surprised Collado chose to park there, as it was not a normal location for a customer to park.
The incident, he said, was caught on the store’s surveillance cameras, which he has since handed over to police probing the ordeal.
Footage posted by Musk seemed to begin sometime after Collado pulled up to the station, during which time the two men seemingly exchanged some words prior to the Musk worker deciding to film the masked man as well as his license plate.
The current case highlights some of the concerns regarding Musk’s position of power as the new head of one of the world’s premiere social media platforms, and since surfaced inconsistencies in the way the mogul – pictured here with X in 2021 – runs his new empire
The clip posted by Musk – in which he blamed the @ElonJet account for endangering his family’s lives and journalists for retweeting the account’s information – starts with the security worker walking up to the passenger side of the Hyundai, where he comes face to face with Collado sitting in the car wearing gloves and a hood.
‘Yeah, pretty sure. Got you,’ the Musk security staffer can be heard saying. Musk wrote that X – whose real name is X Æ A-Xii – had been traveling in the car at the time, though there’s no indication in the video, nor the ones shared with Collado to The Post, that either of Musk’s kids with Bouchard were present.
The video then panned towards the car’s license plate. There was a short exchange with the alleged stalker – where the driver seemed to utter: ‘Got it.’
Videos shared by Collado with The Post reportedly showed him exiting his rental car and standing in front of a Toyota driven by the body guard.
At some point, Musk claimed Collado reportedly blocked the vehicle’s path by climbing on top of its hood.
Shortly after the incident, the Post reported that officers with the South Pasadena Police Department arrived at the gas station and questioned Collado, telling him they were going to file a police report for his actions regarding the incident.
Collado told the paper Sunday that he had not been contacted by the police since the altercation.
The Post report added that the Los Angeles Police Department’s Threat Management Unit had been ‘in contact with Musk’s representatives and security team,’ but stated that no such report was filed.
The story added that Los Angeles police do not believe the @elonjet Twitter account was linked to the Collado incident – a sentiment confirmed to the paper by an unnamed detective.
It’s clear, however, that Musk initially believed this to be the case, due to his authorization a major overhaul of Twitter’s rules regarding free-speech just a day after the altercation.
Seemingly incensed by concern for his loved one’s safety, Musk would also engage in mass suspensions of a half dozen journalists he claimed ‘doxxed’ him for posting Tweets related to his flights, including both reporters that penned the recent report.
On Saturday, amid backlash over those decisions, Musk seemed to have a change of heart – conducting a poll on Twitter that ultimately saw his followers urge him to lift some of those suspensions against the journalists, to which he adhered.
Elon Musk’s son, X, pictured last week at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. Musk claims he was traveling in the car in South Pasadena – near his mother Grimes’ home – when the vehicle was allegedly stalked by the man, identified as Brandon Collado
Both Lorenz and Harwell, who tweeted to the mogul for comment after Musk shared video of the altercation, were among those to have their accounts reinstated.
Also suspended – seemingly for covering the story – were journalists from The New York Times, CNN and several other organizations. Several, including the @ElonJet account – which Musk offered to buy last year for $5,000 – remained banned.
‘The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,’ Musk wrote at the time, before adding: ‘If anyone posted real-time locations & addresses of NYT reporters, FBI would be investigating, there’d be hearings on Capitol Hill & Biden would give speeches about end of democracy!’
In yet another bombshell revaluation in their report, the Post said that that day, Collado tweeted at Musk, ‘I am the guy in this video … You have connections to me and have stalked me and my family for over a year.’
DailyMail.com was not immediately able to substantiate the authenticity of that supposed tweet.
Explaining the stalking ordeal on Saturday, Musk said: ‘Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood.
‘Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.’
Musk declared he subsequently declared that was pursuing legal action against Sweeney, whose Twitter account used publicly available records to tell the world where the chief twit’s private jet was flying.
Both the account and Sweeney’s personal account were subsequently suspended.
Musk panned the video towards the front of the car and caught a glimpse of the license plate
He elaborated on the rationale for the decision, saying that accounts which published where people were located in ‘real-time’ were a ‘physical safety violation.’
‘Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation.’
‘This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info. Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.’
He then released a clip of the man now confirmed to be Collado, with the caption: ‘Anyone recognize this person or car?’
Sweeney’s jet account was suspended Wednesday morning. He tweeted at Musk asking how long of a delay was necessary for there to be no safety response, and then by Wednesday evening the account – and his personal account – were suspended again.
Musk has previously gone after @elonjet, which Sweeney set up in 2020 when he was 19 because he was a super-fan of the billionaire and wanted to see how he managed his businesses.
In 2021, Musk offered Sweeney, 20, $5,000 to take down the account, which he saw as a risk to his safety.
The @elonjet Twitter account suspended. Musk previous said he would not ban it
‘Can you take this down? It is a security risk.’ Musk wrote in a direct message to Sweeney, according to Protocol. ‘I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase’ he added.
Sweeney declined the offer, but countered with an ask for $50,000 and a Tesla. The two did not come to an agreement.
The current case highlights some of the concerns regarding Musk’s position of power as the new head of one of the world’s premiere social media platforms, and since surfaced inconsistencies in the way the South African mogul runs his new empire.
Last month, after assuming the CEO mantle, Musk took to Twitter to declare he was so committed to free-speech that he was allowing the account to remain active.
‘My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,’ Musk wrote.
Now, numerous users are pointint out the hypocrisy of Musk’s recent actions, s well as his announcing his intent to pursue litigation against Sweeney.
As the sole owner of Twitter, Musk has absolute control over the mutlibillion dollar platform. What’s more, upon taking the reigns of the comany in October, Musk furthered his grip on the website by by disbanding its board of directors, as well as its ‘trust and safety’ committee that was responsible for advising the social media platform on such policies.
As of now, no other staffer at the Silicon Valley stronghold has the power to question Musk’s directives. He has yet to comment on the Post report, published late Sunday.