One of the lawyers representing Elon Musk in his legal battle against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also works as a clown, according to a report.
Jaymie Parkkinen, a lawyer with Toberoff & Associates, has been on the front lines of Musk and Altman’s ongoing legal dispute over the origins of OpenAI.
However, in his free time, Parkkinen not only performs as a clown, but operates his own “Clown Cardio business” in Los Angeles, Business Insider reported.
“All my comedy friends — none of them can believe I’m a lawyer,” Parkkinen told the outlet. “And none of my lawyer friends can believe I do clown.”
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015, but later left over divisions on how to run the business and secure funding. A year after the company launched ChatGPT, Musk accused OpenAI and Microsoft of monopolizing the generative AI market and straying from the company’s initial intentions.
In a lawsuit, Musk claims that OpenAI, under Altman’s leadership, is betraying their founding goals of benefitting humanity — rather than pursuing profits.
Meanwhile, Altman counters that Musk abandoned OpenAI after being involved in its early stages and that he accused Musk of harassment.
Throughout the contentious legal dispute, Parkkinen has fought diligently in discovery disputes for Musk’s case, according to the report.
Parkkinen, whose clown performances don’t involve any of the “Ronald McDonald birthday party kind of stuff,” he told the outlet, uses the word “clown” the way people might say “improv” or “comedy.”
Clown forgoes bright red noses or colorful wigs, though all of the performances are improvised.
“When you strip away all the social masks that we all wear, if you strip away gender and politics and money and status and power, and you’re just your raw human self without all the trappings of society — who are you?” Parkkinen said. “And the clown tries to answer that question.”
However, Parkkinen says clown activities have taken a back seat due to the intense litigation schedule in the Musk case.
The lawyer founded a Clown Cardio business after realizing that the physical comedy required of clowns can make for a good workout.
The business especially took off after The New York Times wrote about the program in 2024, and Parkkinen now says there have been requests for franchises to open all the way across Europe.
Parkkinen, who some may know as the lawyer who wrote that Musk “does not use a computer,” declined to discuss details of the case with Business Insider. Parkkinen did not respond to The Independent’s inquiry by the time of publishing.
However, Parkkinen says the performance aspect of being a clown has helped him in the legal world since litigation is also a performance.
“At the end of the day, it’s just about connecting with people, and so is being a lawyer,” he said. “You’re connecting with a judge, a jury, opposing counsel.”
Parkkinen said he feels other corporate lawyers could benefit from partaking in clown activities.
“Lawyers are often very conservative and kind of miss out on this huge gift that’s right at their fingertips,” he said. “Just take an improv class.”
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