LOS ANGELES — Elon Musk emerged victoriously from a courtroom Friday after a Los Angeles federal jury rejected a libel lawsuit filed against the Telsa CEO by a British spelunker who helped lead the 2018 rescue of a Thai youth soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand.

Musk had offered rescuers the use of a mini-submarine to aid in extricating the soccer players. Diver, Vernon Unsworth, turned the offer down, branding it as a "PR stunt" and telling the Tesla/SpaceX CEO to "stick his submarine where it hurts." 

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Musk responded angrily on Twitter, making a derogatory comment about the diver. In Unsworth's libel suit, he claimed Musk's comment had been ruinous to his reputation. Unsworth, 64, a financial adviser and cave explorer who splits his time between Thailand and the UK, told the jury that he felt "humiliated, ashamed, dirtied" as a result of Musk's comment. In the lawsuit, Unsworth, who received several commendations for his work in the rescue, including an MBE (Member of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth, sought unspecified damages.

After deliberating for an hour, the eight-member jury returned a courtroom verdict that terminated Unsworth's bid for $190m in damages for the alleged emotional pain and humiliation he suffered as a result of Musk's online insult, which he claimed accused him of being a pedophile.

Leaving court, Musk told reporters, "My faith in humanity is restored."

City News Service contributed to this report.