BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk phoned the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday to defend the reputation of his Hollywood actress girlfriend Amber Heard and to say the couple were working on their relationship.

The boss of global giants SpaceX and Tesla — notoriously coy about talking about his private life — said “all relationships have their ups and downs” and that “sometimes other agendas are at work”.

MESSAGE LINKING HEARD TO SPORTSMAN CAME FROM SPACEX

media_camera Amber Heard and Elon Musk at the Paddock Bakery on the Gold Coast July 23.

The phone call came a day after the Gold Coast Bulletin revealed a message trying to sabotage the couple’s relationship was sent from his rocket company SpaceX in California.

The message claimed Heard had been seeing a local sportsman and revealing her secret Gold Coast address.

It coincided with Musk making an 18-hour flight this week from Los Angeles just to see Heard.

They were spotted together at a Miami cafe a day after both Musk and Heard confirmed their relationship was over. The two arrived together in a black Tesla and seemed friendly with each other.

media_camera SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the company's new manned spacecraft, The Dragon V2, designed to carry astronauts into space, in Hawthorne, California, in 2014. Picture: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.

As Musk visited the Aquaman set and prepared to fly out last night, he and Heard told the Gold Coast Bulletin; “Having read recent articles about our relationship, we would like to speak for ourselves.

“The distance has been really tough on our relationship, because we haven’t been able to see each other much. All relationships have their ups and downs, of course.

media_camera Billionaire Elon Musk with Gold Coast Bulletin journalist Sally Coates at Paddock Bakery, Miami. Photo taken by Amber Heard

“People occasionally send out speculation, which has no basis in fact, without our knowledge, believing that they have our best interests in mind. Sometimes, other agendas are at work. It can get a little weird ...

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media_camera Amber Heard and Elon Musk arrive at Paddock Bakery, Miami and look for a suitable table. Photo: Sally Coates

“However, we would like to state directly that we have the utmost respect for one another, and it would be troubling if anyone had the impression that we thought otherwise.

“As a closing note, it is worth bearing in mind that events are always amplified and dramatised in a high-profile relationship, whether the people involved like it or not (and we definitely don’t). The reality is that this is just a normal relationship with a giant magnifying glass applied.”

media_camera SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Washington DC on July 19. Picture: AFP/Brendan Smialowski

The couple announced their split last weekend, revealing the distance between them was a factor.

Heard has been on the Gold Coast filming Aquaman while Musk is predominantly in the US busy with the unveiling of the latest Tesla car and the coming launch of Space X’s Falcon Heavy rocket.

media_camera Amber Heard with Gold Coast Bulletin journalist Sally Coates at Paddock Bakery, Miami. The pair would not take a photo with them both in it, but were happy to pose separately. Picture taken by Elon Musk.

A source close to the couple said Musk was believed to be dismayed the slur came from within his own company.

“He’s running two huge companies,” they said.

“He’s got a lot of people acting on his behalf.

“It may be that they’re trying to be protective, but they’re just mistaken.”

media_camera The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft on-board, launching from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 3, 2017. Picture: AFP/NASA/Bill Ingalls.