Thirty seconds into my interview with Vivian Jenna Wilson, daughter of Elon Musk, she got emotional.
She was feeling particularly ‘homesick’, thousands of miles away from Los Angeles.
‘I am very blessed to have a community in LA and a circle of friends that I hold very dear,’ she explained, fighting back tears. ‘I miss them a lot.’
Perhaps she’s also exhausted?
Sitting backstage in hair and makeup at New York Fashion Week, Vivian was preparing for her fourth and final runway show over four days.
It’s her debut as a runway model, and, she says, she has barely slept.
The 21-year-old has quickly become one of the most sought-after models this week, strutting down the runway for notable brands such as Prabal Gurung and Dauphinette, as well as for designer Chris Habana in a show backed by Pornhub.
Modeling, Vivian told me, is something of a newly discovered passion.
Vivian walked the runway for Chris Habana’s runway show ‘POP,’ sponsored by Pornhub, on Monday
Vivian, seen in a photo from May 2025 at the RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 Red Carpet & Premiere Party in New York City, shared that she was experiencing a sense of ‘homesickness’ while away from Los Angeles.
Recently, most people knew her primarily as the distant daughter of the Tesla billionaire, who publicly announced her transition to a transgender woman in 2020 and has since been an advocate for transgender rights.
Vivian acknowledges that this role comes with its own challenges. She frequently receives unsettling and threatening messages online. However, she dismisses any immediate concern for her safety, saying, ‘Everyone gets death threats. It’s 2025, so, like, it’s nothing new.’
Currently, she seems to be integrating her dual passions: modeling and activism. She walked in an Alexis Bittar show named ‘Miss USA 1991,’ which featured an all-trans group of models. Each model wore a sash representing states accused of restricting trans rights.
‘I want Vivian Wilson to be recognized as…’ she paused, thinking. ‘Pink News referred to me as a trans icon, so that’s a start,’ she remarked, though she quickly added, ‘But, saying that makes me sound arrogant.’
Her reputation certainly appears to proceed her.
Backstage on Monday night, gushing admirers pass by, grabbing her arm and professing their love. On the catwalk, she received raucous applause and cheers as she inched down the runway in a constrictive, chain-link dress and white stilettos.
So, what does Vivian think about the raging debate gripping the country – over free speech, transgender rights and gun violence – following the assassination of conservative, anti-trans activist, Charlie Kirk?
On Monday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that Kirk’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, Lance Twiggs, who is transgender.
‘[It] is something I am too f***ing tired to talk about coherently,’ Vivian told me.
Even though, as I pointed out, she frequently posts about these issues to her millions of followers on social media?
Now, she appears to be blending her two pursuits – modeling and activism – walking in an Alexis Bittar show titled ‘Miss USA 1991’ that featured an all-trans cast of models
Backstage on Monday night, gushing admirers pass by, grabbing her arm and professing their love. On the catwalk, she received raucous applause and cheers as she inched down the runway in a constrictive, chain-link dress and white stilettos
After a transgender gunman — who reportedly wrote in a journal that she was ‘tired of being trans’ — killed two children and injured more than a dozen people at a Minneapolis Catholic School in August, the Trump Justice Department reportedly considered new gun control measures targeting transgender people.
That elicited a response from Vivian, just last week. On Threads, she called the idea ‘discriminatory’ and a way ‘to normalize further anti-trans legislation.’
‘Trans people are not mass murderers,’ Vivian told me, ‘It’s a ridiculous… How do I f***ing phrase this?’
She takes a moment to consider her words before continuing.
‘Trans people have been vilified by the media – especially conservative media – for a while and this is just naturally the next step of that to unfairly label all trans people as inherently violent or inherently mass shooters, which is f***ing crazy,’ she continued.
‘I am a runway model – I am not going to shoot anyone with a gun, like, give me a f***ing break.’
She added: ‘There are going to be real world consequences with this association that people are creating between trans people and shooters. As far as I’m aware, the person who shot Charlie Kirk was not trans, so I don’t understand how one plus one is equaling three.’
Anyway, said Vivian, the question was a ‘weird’ one to ask her while backstage at a fashion show.
I caught up with her immediately after walking off the runway – she had already slipped off her high heels.
When asked what’s next for her, she seemed to prioritize some much-needed rest.
‘The first thing I’m going to do is sleep, go hang out with my friends, play [the League of Legends videogame], and then we’re going to get back to it.’
‘I don’t know what that means,’ she concluded, ‘but we’re getting back to it.’
