Who is Ashlee Vance? Writer claims HBO scrapped a docuseries on SpaceX because they are "afraid to make something" about Elon Musk

American reporter Ashlee Vance took to X and shared what he thought was the alleged reason for HBO scrapping a docuseries on Elon Musk's SpaceX. In his tweet, Vance wrote that that project, which dealt with the early stages of Musk and SpaceX, had "died." Vance even added that the project would have been a hit if they had gone ahead with it.

In the tweet, Ashlee Vance wrote,

"Well, it's super sad, but this long-running project with HBO has died. We were going to make a dramatized series about the early days of @elonmusk and @SpaceX..."

Vance continued,

"Hollywood is hard. And HBO went through too many gyrations for this one to keep the requisite energy. People also seem afraid to make something about Elon. As a result, the IP rights on my biography have reverted to me."

As of now, the tweet has garnered more than 415K views as well as over 3.5K likes. A lot of netizens reacted to Vance's tweet and seemingly agreed with his perspective. For the unversed, 48-year-old Ashlee Vance is best known for Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, his 2015 biography.

Born in 1977 in South Africa, Vance spent a significant time of his childhood in Texas. In the year 2000, Vance graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California. In the past, he had written for outlets such as The New York Times, The Register, and Bloomberg Businessweek. As far as his personal life is concerned, Ashlee Vance has a wife and two children.

Vance attended St. John's School from 1990 to 1996, according to LinkedIn. His professional career reportedly began with working as a US correspondent for IDG News Service from 2000 to 2003.

The talked-about limited series, with Elon Musk being the focus, was apparently in development at HBO in October 2020

As previously mentioned, Ashlee Vance claimed that the project about Elon Musk and SpaceX died. He, however, did not share all the details related to the allegations. According to reports by Deadline, the limited series was in development at HBO in October of 2020. The outlet further suggested that, according to sources, HBO passed on the project a long time ago.

The limited series was reportedly about Elon Musk choosing a team of engineers who would get the responsibility to work on a remote Pacific Island where they built Falcon 9 in May 2020. The limited series was based on the 2015 unofficial biography of Elon, by Ashlee Vance.

While Vance interviewed Elon and several others close to him, the Tesla CEO had no control over the unofficial biography. The unofficial biography reportedly included components and information about Musk's early stage in his career. Vance reportedly also wrote about the billionaire's romantic life in the biography.

As of now, there has been no response from HBO's end, amid Ashlee Vance's accusations about the limited series. Elon Musk too has not revealed anything about the project or Vance's claims in the tweet.