Following their split this summer, it was rumoured in the tabloids that Musk had "dumped" her, with an anonymous source telling the Mail she was "devastated" by the split.

Musk has now put forward a different version of events. "She broke up with me more than I broke up with her," he told Rolling Stone magazine. "I was really in love, and it hurt bad." Heard and Musk met on the set of the 2013 action-comedy film Machete Kills, in which he had a cameo appearance.

In an emotional interview, Musk admits that his post-split depression left him almost unable to attend the launch of the new electric car from his company Tesla. "I've been in severe emotional pain for the last few weeks," he said.