Elon Musk’s Appointee Faces Controversy Over Past Involvement in Obscene Website and Cybercriminal Networks

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Alexis N. Crockett
February 12, 2025
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8 minutes read

Elon Musk speaks at a press conference at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. (Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

One of Elon Musk’s appointees in his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Edward Coristine, is facing scrutiny over his past involvement in a controversial image-sharing website that referenced obscene and offensive topics while promoting user privacy. Coristine, a 19-year-old first-year student at Northeastern University, was recently named senior adviser to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology.

However, reports from Musk Watch have revealed that he previously launched tesla. sexy, a site featuring custom “sh–posting” web addresses that redirected to offensive content, some of which allegedly referenced child sexual abuse material, racial slurs, and rape. “Among the links were ‘child-p–n.store’ and ‘kkk-is-cool.club,'” reported Musk Watch.

The site, launched in 2021, emphasized privacy features that protected user identities. According to archived pages from the Wayback Machine, the website’s homepage in March 2021 declared: “Why are we the sexiest? Privacy… When you use tesla.sexy, all your images are encrypted. We do not log IP addresses, device agents, or anything else.”

The following month, the site was updated with the tagline: “Image hosting with a touch of insanity.” It continued to advertise encryption, rapid uploads, and the ability to use fake links, specifically noting, “Fake links, lots of cool domains and effects to put on your images for ultimate sh–posting.”

An analysis of URL traffic between April and September 2021 indicated that obscene URLs were actively redirecting to tesla.sexy. Coristine officially registered the site as a limited liability company in Connecticut in December of that year.

Beyond his involvement with the site, Coristine has used multiple online aliases, including “Rivage,” “Big Balls,” and “JoeyCrafter.” He was also reportedly a member of The Com, a network of Telegram channels and Discord groups that facilitated collaboration among cybercriminals. However, a Discord account linked to Coristine suggested that he distanced himself from the group last year, stating that there was “not enough money to be made” and that he had instead taken an internship at Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink.

Coristine’s track record also includes a previous firing from an internship at Arizona-based data-security firm Path Network. The company dismissed him three years ago after he was allegedly involved in the leaking of proprietary company information.

Despite these revelations, Coristine has now found himself in a government advisory role, raising concerns over Musk’s hiring practices and the vetting process for key governmental positions.