Cards Against Humanity is suing Elon Musk rocket venture SpaceX, alleging that Musk’s company turned a plot of land it owns in Texas into a worksite without permission, or in its words, “completely fucked” it with “gravel, tractors, and space garbage.” Photos of CAH’s once-vacant Texas lot show piles of construction materials on the land, which SpaceX has apparently been using without permission as storage space for work on its Starbase headquarters and launch site.
Why does a card game maker in Chicago own a plot of land in Texas in the first place? Aside from making the popular party game, the people behind Cards Against Humanity are known for political publicity stunts. They once sold 30,000 boxes of pasteurized bull feces labeled “bullshit” as an anti-Black Friday gag, for example, and in 2017 crowdfunded the purchase of a plot of land near the US border in Texas to “take a stand against the building of a Border Wall.”
Cards Against Humanity has maintained the land since, and last year a local homeowner noticed that SpaceX had started using the plot and tipped off a CAH executive, according to a Reuters report. CAH alleges that, after it discovered SpaceX’s trespassing, the rocket company gave it a “12-hour ultimatum to accept a lowball offer” for its land. CAH opted to sue.
Part of CAH’s justification for the $15 million in damages it seeks—aside from it being unlawful to exploit land you don’t own without permission—is that its reputation for following through on its stunts is part of its identity. It didn’t just make a mock-up of the “bullshit” product as a joke, it actually mailed bull feces to people. So if it now doesn’t protect the land it bought on behalf of its backers, its reputation will be tarnished, the company argues.
“Our longstanding reputation as a company that makes outrageous promises and actually keeps them is on the line!” wrote the game publisher. “We promised we’d use every legal tool at our disposal to protect this land from bullies like Trump and Musk (who’s spending millions to get Trump elected and also wants to build the stupid wall). If we don’t take action now, why would anyone ever trust us again?”
If it wins the $15 million it’s after, CAH says it’ll split the net proceeds with the 150,000 subscribers who contributed to the land purchase, sending them “up to $100” each. The backers initially paid $15 each for the land purchase.
The card game isn’t the only one complaining about SpaceX’s project on the southern tip of Texas. The Reuters report I linked above describes rushed and shoddy construction, big donations to Texas politicians to clear the way, and angry locals who feel their concerns are going unheard. “SpaceX has been good for SpaceX and the elected officials that helped it come here,” said one resident who has refused to sell her property to SpaceX. “All Elon Musk has done for me is destroy my dreams.”
Cards Against Humanity has made a copy of its legal complaint available online at elonowesyou100dollars.com. I’ve emailed SpaceX for comment.
