Musk cites Eminem rap song in latest response to SEC

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's legal skirmish with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues, with the executive invoking popular rapper Eminem in a filing submitted to a Manhattan federal court.

Musk is currently looking to throw out his 2018 agreement with the SEC, which requires him to get pre-approval for tweets that are of material importance to Tesla, reports Teslarati.

The recent filing revealed Musk's renewed efforts at preventing an SEC subpoena for details about whether the CEO and Tesla have been complying with their 2018 consent decree with the agency, especially when he polled his Twitter followers if he should sell Tesla stock last year.

While arguing his points, Musk noted in his recent filing that requiring Tesla lawyers to screen his tweets is unconstitutional and a restraint on his free speech.

Musk claimed that this violated his First Amendment rights, the report said.

"The First Amendment requires that agencies proceed with caution when constitutional rights are at stake, not seek to pursue any and all novel theories that broaden their authority at the cost of individual freedom. Compare Eminem, 'Without Me' (2002) ('The [SEC] won't let me be or let me be me so let me see / They tried to shut me down...') with Citadel Broad. Co., Mem. Op. and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 483 (2002) (rescinding penalty against radio station for playing Eminem song and noting 'the First Amendment is a critical constitutional limitation that demands we proceed cautiously and with appropriate restraint')," Musk's new filing noted.