Vivian Wilson is not your average 21-year-old. By the time you read this, she\u2019ll have not long finished walking for Gucci at Milan Fashion Week\u2014prepped for by strutting the garden path of the L.A. home she shares with three friends. Alongside her modeling work, Wilson is a rising cultural commentator, transgender rights activist and has her own merch line. She also happens to be the estranged daughter of the world\u2019s richest person: Elon Musk.<\/p>\n
For the unacquainted, Musk (CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of X<\/a>) proves money cannot make you funny or likable. Vivian, in contrast, is both of those things.<\/p>\n On a rainy Tuesday night for me in Essex and a sunny L.A. morning for Vivian, she appears on our video call in a pale-pink tracksuit, coughing, after missing our previously scheduled call due to sickness. She declines my offer to reschedule again, and initially, I\u2019m concerned about her muted answers. \u201cI\u2019m going to go get another coffee, if you don\u2019t mind. I just woke up,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy brain is not turned on yet. I can\u2019t, like, activate the neurons or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n She disappears, leaving me to make pleasant-awkward small talk with her publicist. Moments later, she reappears with a mug. The caffeine hits. Vivian Wilson is in the room.<\/p>\n To understand Vivian\u2019s rise, we have to look back at 2022. Turning 18, she filed to legally change her name and gender, stating<\/a> she no longer wished to be related to her biological father \u201cin any way, shape, or form.\u201d The private documents leaked.<\/p>\n \u201cThen two years later, this guy [Musk] on a podcast called me dead<\/a> and I was not having it,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo I made a response on Threads [Meta\u2019s rival to X, which, understandably, Vivian does not use<\/em>], and it went mega viral. Everything took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n The podcast in question was hosted by right-wing former professor Jordan Peterson. After Musk told Peterson he was \u201ctricked\u201d into signing transition documents, claiming his child was \u201ckilled by the woke mind virus,\u201d Vivian responded via TikTok, letting the world know she \u201clooks pretty good for a dead bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n Naturally, her merch line is called \u201cEvil Woke Mind Virus\u201d<\/a> in tribute.<\/p>\n Vivian has previously claimed Musk was a rarely present and unsupportive father during her childhood. Coming out as trans to her mother, author Justine Wilson, was a vastly different experience: She pretended to be surprised before simply saying, \u201cYeah, honey. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Before a January 2025 Teen Vogue<\/em> cover catapulted Vivian into further visibility, she studied at Japan\u2019s Komazawa University, intending to teach. \u201cI slept on a futon because the bed seemed hard to set up and I thought, I\u2019m not going to be here forever<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor a while I was this niche H-list micro celebrity, just on Threads posting about politics and trans stuff. That cover absolutely changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, her degree has been paused. \u201cI started getting modeling opportunities, which I\u2019m very grateful for, and now that\u2019s how I pay my rent.\u201d<\/p>\n Fashion Week is a brutal new frontier. \u201cIt\u2019s an endurance test of your capabilities,\u201d Vivian muses. \u201cI was practicing in shoes that were too small and fucked up one of my toes. Not fun. But I don\u2019t think anyone leaves Fashion Week with toes fully intact.\u201d<\/p>\n Off the runway, her style is unpretentious. \u201cConsumerism is getting out of hand; most of my clothes I\u2019ve had for a long-ass time,\u201d she looks around her bedroom. \u201cGod, I need to do my laundry, but yeah, I don\u2019t buy a lot of clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of dress like a goblin,\u201d she laughs, crowning her aesthetic as a \u201cwine-drunk aunt who has exactly two cats and a parakeet.\u201d \u201cI wear the same shirt constantly, to the point where my publicist brings it up all the goddamn time! But I\u2019ll amp it up for the cameras or if I\u2019m doing drag, which is my favorite thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Dress <\/em>Tory Burch<\/strong><\/em>, skirt and shoes stylist\u2019s own. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Last year, she made her \u201cVivllainous\u201d drag debut<\/a> as an \u201coil spill\u201d in a toxic relationship with an oil CEO, at a legal fundraiser supporting immigrants. But this confidence has been hard-won. \u201cI was made fun of for my weight as a kid, but looking back on photos now\u2026I was not even chubby. I was just born in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat never really leaves you,\u201d Vivian continues. \u201cIt has very much affected me. I was a very modest person. I wouldn\u2019t like to show my body off at all and I always got super uncomfortable at the thought.\u201d<\/p>\n An inclusive underwear campaign, a form of (literal) exposure therapy, changed everything. \u201cTomboyX came along and said, \u2018We\u2019re doing an underwear shoot; we will pay you this amount of money,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018I love this company; I want to further my modeling career; this is the step I should take\u2019 and I think I kind of ate that up.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The internet\u2019s favorite hobby is to comment on women\u2019s bodies\u2014especially trans women\u2019s bodies. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/section>\n When I ask how she\u2019s navigated the vulnerability of opening her body up to public comment through her chosen line of work, Vivian admits \u201cthere were a few things that got to me. It\u2019s the internet\u2019s favorite hobby to comment on women\u2019s bodies. Especially trans women\u2019s bodies, depending on how feminine or masculine or AFAB [assigned female at birth] or DFAB [designated female at birth] or whatever the fuck it is you look. Which\u2026I\u2019m over.\u201d So much so, she has also since shot for Rihanna\u2019s Savage X Fenty lingerie brand (and again, ate).<\/p>\n Still, while Vivian carves her own path, the internet stubbornly drags her past into the present. Is it hard consistently being referenced as \u201cElon\u2019s kid\u201d? \u201cThere\u2019s not much I can do about it, so who cares? It\u2019s part of my story, but it\u2019s not the future of my story.\u201d<\/p>\n She pauses, laughing. \u201cThe media training is finally [working].\u2026[My team] were like, \u2018Girl, we need<\/em> to get you media trained!\u2019 and I was like, \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to!\u2019 They were like, \u2018You should not<\/em> answer this question.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Asked how she processes negative family-related comments, she answers honestly: \u201cI don\u2019t. Which is probably not the morally or politically correct answer. But [to quote <\/em>Kourtney Kardashian<\/em><\/a>\u2019s response to her sister\u2019s extreme response to losing an earring<\/em>] it\u2019s very \u2018Kim, there\u2019s people that are dying!\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n This perspective\u2014that greater injustices are at play and should be the focal point\u2014is in part shaped by the extreme wealth Vivian was born into and her choice to reject it. \u201cIt was a very strange experience, very isolating.\u2026The upper class have their own private schools, social circles, and whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n She initially attended Ad Astra, a secretive school on the SpaceX campus, before transferring to Crossroads, a traditional hub for L.A.\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n \u201cI have unlearned a huge amount, but even as a child, I was like, \u2018This is a bit gauche,\u2019\u201d she reflects. \u201cI remember being very young and seeing homelessness and feeling sick to my stomach. People would get on me for being like a dramatic little child. But no, I was right to be a dramatic little shit about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Vivian also recalls observing a \u201clevel of detachment from reality itself, in favor of wealth and this illusion that you deserve<\/em> it while people are sleeping on the streets… Oh, and also Santa Claus is real.\u2019\u201d But, she adds with self-awareness, \u201cI also know that, like, I was a rich kid; I should not be lecturing anyone on materialism.\u201d<\/p>\n Has immense wealth warped people around her? \u201cAbsolutely yes. I have seen that shit firsthand. It will change you, and the desire for power corrupts people from within. It is cartoonish. Achieving that and wanting more is a never-ending cycle of greed and gluttony, where nothing is enough and you kind of go insane. It turns you into someone different. Which is honestly one of my biggest fears.\u201d<\/p>\n When I suggest that humor seems to be a primary defense mechanism when it comes to more difficult subjects, Vivian\u2019s eyes mock widen. \u201cThat is so rude for you to completely clock my entire shit like that on a Tuesday morning at 11:09 a.m.,\u201d she laughs, before becoming semi-serious: \u201cIs it a response to talking about harder subjects? Yes, obviously. Cat\u2019s out of the bag with that one.\u201d<\/p>\n She credits queer culture and Discord servers for her impeccable comedic timing. \u201cI am not the best at talking about certain subjects, especially uncomfortable ones. It\u2019s both unconscious and conscious. I do this all the time, especially in my personal life,\u201d she says, before caveating she has no mental health advice to share beyond \u201ctherapy is good\u201d and muses that she should probably pick it up again. \u201cLife is more bearable when you don\u2019t take anything seriously. The world is a circus; just become a clown. That makes no sense. Whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n Behind the scenes, she remains fiercely private. \u201cI\u2019m pretty introverted and chronically online. I don\u2019t think people would guess that. On a typical day, I\u2019m probably playing video games, sketching, doomscrolling. I like languages, so maybe watching something in French.\u201d Romance is similarly off the table right now. \u201cI\u2019m not on any dating apps. I made sure to delete that when I got famous. Y\u2019all are never catching me slipping,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t want romance; it\u2019s scary. I would like to grow more before getting into another relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Top <\/em>Issey Miyake<\/strong><\/em>. Swimsuit <\/em>Dead Lotus Couture<\/strong><\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n But publicly, she is ready for a fight. As the appetite for elite accountability surges, Vivian\u2014the ultimate insider turned outsider\u2014hasn\u2019t held back. She recently posted on Threads<\/a> regarding emails in the Epstein files<\/a> about Musk holidaying in St. Barth\u2019s and apparently wanting to visit Epstein\u2019s private island, noting they match her own memory of being away as a family at that time. She has offered to assist authorities however she can, despite safety concerns.<\/p>\n The idea of a trans woman tearing down the tech overlord dynasty she was born into feels like blockbuster fiction, but how does the imagined hero at the center of it all picture that playing out? \u201cBringing down the oligarchy would be tea, but I don\u2019t know if that’s feasible for a 21-year-old. I\u2019m just living my life and speaking out on issues that are important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n As her influence and wealth now creeps up through her own making, Vivian hovers to reflect on the irony. \u201cI don\u2019t really want power. I wanted to be a teacher,\u201d she pauses. \u201cI guess I am<\/em> gaining power.\u2026It\u2019ll be a testament to my character as to what I do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n As our call wraps, I leave assured and with the impression she\u2019ll use it wisely\u2026and excited to see what comes next.<\/p>\n Lead image: Dress <\/em>Sandy Liang<\/strong><\/em>. Hair clips (worn on dress) <\/em>Beata Rydbacken<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Cosmopolitan UK editor-in-chief: Claire Hodgson. Hair by <\/em>Ginger Leigh Ryan<\/em><\/a> for <\/em>R+Co<\/em><\/a>. Makeup by <\/em>Chloe Grae<\/em><\/a> for <\/em>MAC Cosmetics<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nThe viral lore<\/h2>\n
Walking her own path<\/h2>\n
![\"Child](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/a9bcd208-d13f-4067-be90-57a62ae4fee6.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:*\" "\\"Child")
<\/p>\n
\u2014Vivian Wilson<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFighting the good fight<\/h2>\n
![\"vivian](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/f5b621bf-9cc7-4a08-94be-6bf64a511a7e.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"vivian")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n![\"vivian](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/c2a1bf0e-e82d-4831-a483-d622bc9e4532.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"vivian")
<\/p>\n