Teen Vogue chief editor Versha Sharma said she has begun to keep an eye on Elon and Justine Musk's 20-year-old daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, about the time of the presidential election last fall.
“The more we start to learn about her from watching her Tiktoks or following her online, the more we realize her voice is very powerful, fun, and can cut the noise with humor,” Ms. Sharma said in a phone interview on Friday.
Writer and comedian Ella Yurman was able to interview Ms. Wilson, leading to the first adverb of her first Teen Vogue, which landed on the cover of the special issue. The interview quickly spread around social media after its release on Thursday.
In the interview, Ms. Wilson, who is a trans woman, discussed a wide variety of topics, including whether she is famous (“I don't like saying that I'm famous because I want to do something more to deserve that fame”), her relationship with social media (“I am the Queen of Threads”), her family (“I do not actually know how many siblings I have”) and her politics (“I am constantly shifting and evolving”).
But it was her in-depth discussion of her father that the internet would buzz once it was published. She talked about the debate on his gestures during the inaugural event for President Trump in January, saying: “Dear, we want to call figs, we will call Nazis to pay tribute to the Nazis.” She stressed that she was financially independent and said she had no relationship with Mr. Musk since 2020. She said he was “not as supportive as my mom” when she transitioned and started taking testosterone blockers. She said that despite his wealth and influence, she was not afraid to object to him.
“People get rid of fear,” she said. “I'm not giving to anyone in my mind.”
Mr. Musk, who did not respond to a request for comment, has not spoken publicly about the interview.
Ms. Sharma said her editorial team was aware of the potential issues in publishing a story that criticized the wealthiest people in the world, “We expect some reaction, but we really hope that the story is guided by Vivian and also focus on who she is, not his daughter.”
The interview was conducted via Zoom, where Ms. Wilson was from Japan, involving Ms. Yurman and the Teen Vogue team talked with Ms. Wilson several times over a period of months. To illustrate the interview, Teenage Fashion took photos in Tokyo with photographer Andy Jackson, who drew inspiration from the films Lost in Translation and Various Adult Themes of Girls’ Generation.
“Bold and colorful teen fashion shots are always a large part of it and also capture our subject and showcase the lives of today’s teenagers and young people as much as possible,” Ms. Sharma said. “Vivian is certainly a very unique 20 year old, but she is 20, so we’re happy to capture her and her environment.”
The interview was both casual, and Ms. Wilson discussed her interests and future ambitions and was serious about discussing Mr. Musk.
Ms. Wilson did not respond to the request for further comments, and he was not alone in Mr. Musk's family, who openly discussed his appearance behind the scenes as a person and as a parent. Grimes, a pop star with three children, often brings it to X to ask questions, including a recent request, and he contacts her to deal with one of their children. Mr. Musk’s father Errol Musk publicly questioned Mr. Musk’s ability to parent in a podcast interview, and then told The New York Times that “the media took things out of context” that he had a good relationship with his son.
But what Ms. Wilson said in Teen Fashion is just her second interview – her first interview with NBC last year – that offered a unique view of Mr. Musk’s political activity, which included attacks on trans communities. Musk said in an interview with Jordan Peterson last year that Ms. Wilson (he called her son) was “dead – killed by the awakened mind virus.”
Ms. Wilson said in an interview with Youth Vogue that Mr. Musk’s politics moved to the right, but stressed that she didn’t think it was a major departure from his previous beliefs and that she believed her trans people were not part of the transition.
“He went further on the right and I'm going to use the word 'further' – make sure you put it further there – not because of me.” “That's crazy.”
Solving trans issues is a priority for Ms. Sharma.
“We want to be a resource for trans youth and any other marginalized youth,” she said. “We see attacks on their access to health care, other fundamental rights, just their basic identities.”
But both she and Ms. Yulman said they wanted to show Ms. Wilson a wider light.
“The interview makes you laugh, it's an interesting reading because that's the kind of person she's,” Ms. Sharma said of Ms. Wilson. “And she's a very online 20-year-old, no matter who her parents are. I think it's through.”
Ms Yurman said via email that she had spoken with Ms. Wilson since the story was published about the entire effort, and he hoped to interview people with the real Ms. Wilson.
“I want readers to take Vivian away like everyone else,” she said. “I think today, the massive coverage of trans people, even the compelling trans people, ends up centering their spans so much that they reduce them to two-dimensional characters without intrinsicity. Most importantly, I hope this piece gives Vivian a chance to be ahead of the world.”
