Meet Elon Musk’s new girlfriend: Tesla billionaire, 50, is dating 27-year-old Australian actress

65

View
comments

Elon Musk has a new lady in his life, just five months after welcoming another child with his former partner Grimes – and the pair have already taken their romance overseas, making one of their first public outings as a couple in the upscale French town of St. Tropez this weekend. 

The SpaceX founder, 50, was seen putting on a very cozy display with Australian actress Natasha Bassett, 27, while enjoying lunch in the coastal European town, seemingly confirming that he is in a relationship with the rising on-screen star, three months after they were first linked. 

The Tesla billionaire was photographed enjoying a low-key date with his new woman in the upscale area located in the south of France, after taking her as his plus one to Entourage muse Ari Emanuel and fashion designer Sarah Staudinger’s star-studded wedding one days earlier.

Elon and Natasha were seen enjoying a meal at the Cheval Blanc hotel, where rooms cost an upwards of $1,300-a-night. The couple sipped on rose, ate French fries, and chatted animatedly while waiters fluttered by. After finishing their meal, the tech mogul and his girlfriend then strolled hand-in-hand out of the expensive eatery – looking as happy as could be together. 

But who is Musk’s new woman? The Australian movie star has launched a major career of her own – starring in a slew of movies since she moved to the U.S. at age 19, and most famously portraying famed singer Britney Spears in a 2017 Lifetime biopic about her.

Bassett, Musk’s youngest girlfriend yet, looked elegant during the outing in a $698 Zadig and Voltaire dress, silver sandals, and a matching bag. 

Musk, who was dressed less suitably for the weather, wore a dark grey t-shirt, black jeans, and black leather Chelsea boots. 

The couple are believed to have started dating in February this year – just two months after he and his ex-girlfriend Grimes had called it quits – when they were spotted getting off Musk’s private jet in Los Angeles, California, together.

Since then, it seems Bassett has been well and truly embraced by his family, as she attended multiple events in Cannes last week, where she was pictured hanging out with Musk’s model mother, Maye, 74.

In fact, it may well have been Maye who introduced the two in the first place; she first met Natasha back in September 2015 – when she posted a sweet comment on then-unknown actress’s Instagram account saying how much she had enjoyed meeting the Australian star and her mother, Jenny. 

From her own career and accomplishments to how she started dating the world’s richest man, here’s everything you need to know about Musk’s new girlfriend.

A look back at Bassett’s childhood: How the Australian actress rose to fame

Bassett was born in Sydney, Australia in 1992. During high school, she began acting  – landing a role in the Australian Theater for Young People’s production of Romeo and Juliet at age 13.

Her first major on screen role was in the MTV movie Dungoona in 2009. She also starred in several Australian TV shows like Rake, Wild Boys, and Cops L.A.C. throughout high school.

After graduating, she starred in the flick Mental. She also wrote and directed her own short film, called Kite, in 2013. 

She moved to the U.S. when she was 19 to pursue her career in acting. She first worked in New York while studying at the Atlantic Acting School, before she traveled to Los Angeles to star in the NBC series Camp.

‘When you create something that truly affects people – whether it makes them laugh, cry or get really ticked off, whatever it may be – there’s nothing better than trying to make some sense of the human condition through different complex characters and being able to share that with other people,’ she told Vogue in 2016, while discussing her love of acting.

‘The moments I’m on set collaborating with a group of people, who’ve become an instant family that I trust, make me very happy.’

Her other roles include the indie drama Katie Says Goodbye, comedy movie Hail, Caesar!, House by the Lake in 2016, thriller Desolate, Spinning Man alongside Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver, 2020 action comedy Spy Intervention, western The Pale Door, and the Lifetime movie Britney Ever After, in which she played Spears.

‘I have so much respect and admiration for Britney and what attracted me to doing this movie is that it’s truly a feminist story at its core,’ she explained to Us Weekly after Britney Ever After came out.

‘And as a feminist myself, I was inspired to tell the story of a woman’s journey. She was faced with so many challenges, but she comes out at the end so strong and on top.’

After landing the role, Bassett recalled reading ‘every book’ that exists about Spears and watching every single one of her interviews.

‘That was imperative for me to understand her experiences and the journey she’s been on,’ she said to Vogue.

‘I also threw myself into dance lessons straight away and worked on not only how to dance, but how to walk, stand, and move like a dancer, too. Britney Spears, 24 hours a day.’

She called starring in the movie ‘exciting’ and ‘nerve-wracking’ at the same time, since she admitted that she’s such a big fan of Spears’.

She gushed to The Wrap, ‘It’s exciting but nerve-racking at the same time. Playing someone I’ve grown up idolizing is petrifying, as well, because I have so much respect and admiration for Britney. I can only hope that her loyal fan base enjoys the film.’ 

Her hobbies include playing piano, hiking, and baking, as she previously told Vogue, ‘I love to bake. When I was waiting to hear about whether I got the Hail, Caesar! role, I baked everyday waiting to find out, just to get my mind off it.’

She often shares snaps of herself exploring the outdoors to her Instagram account, where she has racked up nearly 50,000 followers.

The movie star also enjoys giving back and is passionate about helping animals. She visited an Australian wildlife hospital in 2020, and opened up about the experience on Instagram.

‘So happy I got to have an inside tour of the @currumbinwildlifehospital yesterday, one of the busiest wildlife hospitals in the world,’ she wrote at the time. 

‘Their goal is to treat, rehabilitate and release sick, injured and orphaned native wildlife. I watched the nurses rehabilitate a sick koala who is on the road to recovery. 

‘Once the koalas are fully recovered, usually after about six weeks, they’ll be dropped directly back to where they were found. 

‘Their eyes visibly light up when they recognize their home and they’re able to rejoin their mates, enjoying being back in good health.

‘The hospital has had over 125,000 admissions over the last 20 years and this figure continues to rise, averaging at 12,000 wildlife animals per year now.

‘Currumbin relies on community donations and support to keep the hospital running. If you’d like to know more info or donate, this is their website: currumbinwildlifehospital.org.au.’

Inside Musk and Bassett’s relationship: How the pair met and when they started dating 

It’s unclear how Bassett and Musk first met, but it looks like she has been a friend of the family for many years.

Back in 2015, Musk’s mom commented on a photo that Bassett had shared with her own mother, in which she wrote, ‘Lovely meeting you both.’ 

And it appears that Maye and Bassett are still close, as the actress was photographed excitedly chatting with 74-year-old at the premiere of her new film, Elvis, last week. 

Bassett is set to play one of the singer’s girlfriends, named Dixie Locke, in the biopic, which comes out on June 24. 

Hollywood Life reported that Bassett actually brought Maye as her date to the event.

‘Elon and Natasha are still going strong and over time Natasha has developed a solid bond with his mother Maye,’ an insider spilled to the outlet. 

‘Maye is the most important person in Elon’s world and the fact that she adores Natasha means so much to him.’

The source added the pair ‘have only been dating for a couple of months, but they are already in a monogamous relationship.’

They dished, ‘They are very much into each other and have been spending a tremendous amount of time together.’

Bassett has kept pretty tight lipped about her love life over the years, but back in 2017, she admitted that she was considering using dating apps.

‘I haven’t [used them yet]. It hasn’t been a focus of mine, but I’ve heard great stories from friends who’ve met lovely people that way,’ she told The New Potato.

‘So who’s to say I wouldn’t try it in the future? Although, I think deep down, I’m still a romantic at heart and fantasize that when it comes to love, things transpire more organically. We’ll see.’

In the interview, she also listed the south of France as one of her favorite vacation spots, so it’s fitting that she and Musk visited there together.

‘I lived in the south of France as a kid, and speak fluent French, so I love to go back,’ she gushed.

‘Paris is magnificent, but I especially enjoy visiting the southern coast of France. The French countryside is so beautiful. I wouldn’t go there, or anywhere, without a good book.’

A walk down memory lane: A recap of Musk’s past relationships

Musk is a father-of-seven who has been divorced three times – twice from the same woman. 

He met his first wife, Justine Wilson, when the pair were studying together at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.

They tied the knot in 2000, and welcomed their first son – Nevada – in 2002, who tragically died when he was only 10 weeks old from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 

They then welcomed twins Griffin and Xavier, now 17, in 2004, and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian, now 15, in 2006; all five of the children were conceived via IVF. The pair divorced in 2008 after eight years of marriage.

Following his split from Justine, Elon began dating British star Talulah Riley, who is most known for her roles in Pride & Prejudice, St. Trinian’s, Fritton’s Gold, The Boat That Rocked, Inception, Westworld, and Bloodshot.

The pair married in 2010, then divorced in 2012. By the following summer, they had remarried. But then, in December 2014, she filed for divorce a second time, only to withdraw her lawsuit the following year. 

In March 2016, Talulah requested a divorce a third time, and the pair split for good; the couple did not have any children together. 

Musk then dated actress Amber Heard for several months in late 2016 and early 2017, after he reportedly pursued her for many years. 

Heard’s ex-husband Johnny Depp later accused Amber of cheating on him with Musk while they were still married, but both Musk and Heard have denied the affair. They split in the summer of 2017.

After Heard, Musk moved on with the singer Grimes, making their debut as a couple at the 2018 Met Gala. They welcomed a son together in May 2020, named X Æ A-Xii, or ‘X’ for short.

More than a year after welcoming their son – in September 2021 – Elon told Page Six that they were ‘semi-separated.’ 

However, in December 2021, Grimes stunned the world when she announced that the pair had welcomed another baby together – a daughter who they had via a surrogate. They named her Exa Dark Sideræl, but they refer to her as ‘Y’ for short.