New power couple?
Elon Musk’s famous ex Grimes reportedly living in Austin with infamous whistleblower
First came the bombshell that Texas billionaire Elon Musk and now-ex-girlfriend Grimes secretly had a baby via a surrogate. A day later, another bombshell exploded: Grimes, a singer-songwriter, is dating famous (or infamous) whistleblower Chelsea Manning. And they’re living together in Austin.
If Austin were crawling with Hollywood-style paparazzi, they’d be clamoring to snap a shot of Grimes with Manning, as well as a photo of the “secret” baby.
Let’s begin with the coupling of Grimes and Manning. Citing anonymous sources, the New York Post’s gossip-fueled Page Six reported March 11 that Grimes and Manning are now an item.
“They’re getting serious. They U-Hauled it,” one source tells Page Six, a typically reliable chronicler of celebrity life. “They’ve been living together in Austin.”
Page Six adds that the 34-year-old Manning still maintains an apartment in Brooklyn, New York.
Manning, a transgender woman who once was an Army intelligence analyst, gained notoriety after leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive U.S. government materials in 2010. Three years later, she pleaded guilty to some of the criminal charges against her and was subsequently convicted of nearly all of the other charges.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a federal men’s prison, but President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017 after Manning had been behind bars for seven years while awaiting trial and after being convicted.
Meanwhile, Grimes has been romantically linked to Musk, co-founder and CEO of Austin-based electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, since 2018. The 33-year-old Grimes — a native of Canada whose legal name is Claire Elise Boucher — is a record producer and music video director in addition to being a singer-songwriter.
So, where in Austin are Grimes and Manning cohabitating? We don’t know for sure, but a new Vanity Fair profile of Grimes offers some clues. The magazine published the article online March 10.
The author of the Vanity Fair piece interviewed Grimes at her home in Austin — where she apparently has lived since late last year — and describes it as being situated “on a sleepy neighborhood cul-de-sac 15 minutes from downtown.”
“This home in Austin could be any house in any upscale neighborhood,” writer Devin Gordon observes. “It’s got a gorgeous view of the Colorado River in the back and a tiny pool that she has no plans to use because she’s not a big fan of sun. It’s a nice house. It’s no Versailles.”
The two children Grimes shares with Musk also live there.
Grimes gave birth to their son, X Æ A-Xii Musk (known as X), in May 2020. Their girl, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk (known as Y), arrived by surrogate last December. Vanity Fair broke the news of Y’s birth.
As for Musk, Grimes says she and her ex-boyfriend live in separate houses. Grimes clarified after publication of the Vanity Fair story that she and Musk are no longer a couple.
“We’re best friends. We see each other all the time,” Grimes tells Vanity Fair.
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