Fact Check: Did tennis legend Rafael Nadal turn down Elon Musk's $10M proposal to coach his son X?
AUSTIN, TEXAS: Viral social media posts claim that Rafael Nadal supposedly gave a hard pass to a $10 million offer from none other than Elon Musk.
The tech mogul apparently wanted the Spanish tennis legend to "personally coach his son X Æ A-12 in tennis."
Fact Check: There's no evidence Elon Musk offered Rafael Nadal $10 million to coach his son
The alleged deal reportedly included "an exclusive one-year coaching contract, complete with first-class travel, luxurious accommodations, and a blank-check approach to ensure Nadal’s convenience."
According to the now-viral posts on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, Nadal reportedly said no and reasoned, "Tennis is my passion, not my business." Fans immediately praised his "heart, humility, and unshakable values" for rejecting such a mind-boggling offer.
The origin of this claim is a site called luxurycarmagazine.tv. Their report claimed that Musk made the lavish offer, hoping Nadal would coach his four-year-old son into the next Grand Slam superstar.
But there’s zero actual proof that any of this happened. No statements from Nadal’s camp, no confirmation from Team Musk, and certainly no receipts. The article itself didn’t cite any credible sources.
This isn’t Musk's first ride on the "fake news" rollercoaster.
The Jimmy Kimmel fiasco that never was
Recently, there were whispers that Jimmy Kimmel supposedly kicked Elon Musk off 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' That story also went viral online, thanks to a few dramatic YouTube channels like 'Visionary Tales' and 'Elite Vault'.
One of the videos was titled, "Jimmy Kimmel Kicks Elon Musk Off His Show - What Happened Next Left America Speechless!"
The video described a jaw-dropping night where a "casual interview quickly turned tense” and included "sarcastic jabs and pointed questions" that apparently pushed the Tesla CEO to his breaking point. It claimed Kimmel cut the interview mid-segment, and Musk was "escorted off stage."
Meanwhile, another version from Visionary Tales spilled, "What began as a casual conversation quickly escalates into a heated moment that leaves the audience stunned. This fictional scenario imagines what could happen when strong personalities clash on live TV."
Snopes did a deep dive and confirmed that the videos were pure fantasy. The creators even admitted in their captions that the stories were "entirely fictional and crafted solely for entertainment."
The Rock vs Elon Musk showdown
In March, a Facebook page called Classic a car shared a post titled, "Shocking Drama: The Rock Unexpectedly Threatens to Punch Elon Musk If He Doesn’t ‘Leave America Alone’ – Musk’s Puzzling Reaction Leaves Netizens Buzzing!"
The post linked to an article from sports.amazingtoday.net that claimed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had made the threat publicly and that Musk responded with a "thinking face emoji."
The article added that neither Johnson nor Musk had said anything more after that.
But again, no real sources, no real proof, just another viral fairytale. Check Your Fact rated the entire story false and revealed that the text had been run through GPTZero, which determined that the whole article was 100% AI-generated.
Even the caption on one of the videos came clean: "The stories presented on this channel are entirely fictional and crafted solely for entertainment."
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