Cards Against Humanity deals SpaceX a $15M lawsuit over Texas turf tangle

Land purchased to save it from Trump's border wall 'completely f*cked' by 'gravel, tractors, and space garbage'

Elon Musk is facing down the barrel of another multimillion-dollar suit, this time from the makers of irreverent party game Cards Against Humanity (CAH).

The game's creators sued [PDF] SpaceX last week, and not because Musk's antics are moving faster than the company's writers can keep up. The lawsuit, which seeks for as much as $15 million in damages, has to do with SpaceX allegedly using a parcel of Texas property owned by CAH to stage materials and equipment for nearby construction projects.

"Elon Musk's SpaceX was building some space thing nearby, and he figured he could just dump his shit all over our gorgeous plot of land without asking," CAH said on a website it stood up to publicize the suit. "After we caught him, SpaceX gave us a 12-hour ultimatum to accept a lowball offer for less than half our land's value."

CAH said it responded in a manner similar to Musk's statements to Twitter advertisers earlier this year, and is now following up with the lawsuit.

CAH's Texas property in 2017 – click to enlarge

CAH argues that SpaceX trespassed on its property, that its actions have been a nuisance, that it unjustly enriched itself using CAH land, and that it engaged in tortious interference with an existing contract or business relationship.

CAH's Texas land after SpaceX allegedly invaded – click to enlarge

Why does a card game company own land in rural Texas?

The company behind the game, which was born in 2010 as a Kickstarter project, has undertaken numerous publicity stunts over the years to craft an image as irreverent as they are political. Perhaps its biggest joke came in 2017, kicking off the current saga.

CAH bought the property in question as a stunt using money raised from 150,000 people that donated $15 to help stop former President Donald Trump's border wall through the purchase of the land.

"For however long it takes, we are ready for a protracted resistance to any attempts by the government to build a wall on this land," CAH's lawyers said in 2017.

"Unfortunately, an even richer, more racist billionaire – Elon Musk – snuck up on us from behind and completely fucked that land with gravel, tractors, and space garbage," CAH said in its announcement of the lawsuit. SpaceX has reportedly spent the intervening years buying up neighboring parcels for construction projects, leaving the CAH plot largely surrounded by the construction of "large modern-looking buildings" that are "changing the entire dynamic of the area."

Lots adjacent to CAH land in Texas where SpaceX buildings have been going up – click to enlarge

If CAH were to allow SpaceX's use of the land to go unchallenged, the company reasons, its reputation could be at risk.

"CAH supporters have developed unprecedented loyalty, as well as expectations that the company will live up to its persona as politically active – especially regarding abusive tactics by government and wealthy businesses against regular people around the country and the world," CAH lawyers said in the suit.

"Part of CAH's method to maintain this supporter relationship … is the use of humorous 'pranks' or 'stunts' that draw attention to particular issues," the suit continued. SpaceX's actions, CAH claims, have "damaged the reputation of CAH with its supporters for allowing a billionaire such as Musk to essentially steal the Property from CAH without remorse or even explanation."

Whether that will be enough to convince a judge, or jury, as CAH has requested, of the merits of the case remains to be seen. If it wins, CAH said it intends to split the $15 million with the original backers of the land's purchase, equating to around $100 per 2017 backer.

CAH tells us that its lawyers think it has a good case, but winning won't be easy.

"SpaceX is obviously in the wrong here," a CAH spokesperson told us, while noting that "we need to manage our expectations."

"Elon Musk has way more money and lawyers than we do, so it'll be an uphill battle to get him to pay up," the company added. "We hope Elon Musk gets to experience the consequences of his actions."

Neither SpaceX nor Musk responded to questions. ®