Is this tech giant and space pioneer a real-life Tony Stark? Or is he just another billionaire
who loves to boast about himself? Whatever you believe, it's clear that Elon Musk's in-your-face
approach has earned him his share of enemies. Here are the celebs who can't stand Elon Musk.
"You're a supervillain!"
During a 2013 interview with Esquire, George Clooney didn't have a glowing review for the
electric vehicle that was developed, in part, by Elon Musk.
When asked why he was driving a Lexus instead of Hollywood's favorite new ride, Clooney
said,
"I had a Tesla. I was one of the first cats with a Tesla. I think I was, like, number
five on the list. But I'm telling you, I've been on the side of the road a while in that
thing. And I said to them, 'Look, guys, why am I always stuck on the side of the f---ing
road? Make it work, one way or another.'"
To be fair to Elon Musk, it probably wouldn't feel all that great to have an A-list celebrity
trash your product in an interview for the whole world to see. But there were still two
ways Musk could have chosen to respond to this.
He chose the "not good" option.
He tweeted,
"In other news, George Clooney reports that his iPhone 1 had a bug back in '07."
Gotta work on those customer service skills, Elon!
Elon Musk and Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg don't even try to hide their
disdain for one another.
In 2016, when Zuckerberg's $200 million satellite exploded in a pre-launch "static fire test"
accident while attached to one of Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX released a statement
blaming the explosion on "an anomaly" on the launchpad.
Zuckerberg wasn't going to allow that to be the official narrative. He wrote in a Facebook
post following the incident,
"I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that
would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the
continent."
Ouch.
Two years later, when a Twitter user brought up the accident, Musk responded,
"Yeah, my fault for being an idiot. We did give them a free launch to make up for it
and I think they had some insurance."
The two tech giants also publicly feuded over the future of artificial intelligence. Zuckerberg
is for it, Musk is vehemently against it, calling the technology, quote, "far more dangerous
than nukes."
In a Facebook livestream, Zuckerberg called out Musk's warning about A.I. as being, quote,
"pretty irresponsible." Musk then responded to the comments in true Musk form: rudely,
on Twitter. In response to the reaction to the feud, Musk tweeted,
"I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited."
Say what you will about Sarah Palin, but she has opinions and wants you to know them.
In a lengthy 2013 Facebook post, the former Alaska governor and republican vice-presidential
candidate called Tesla a "loser," and accused Musk's signature car of turning into "a brick"
when the battery runs out.
The crux of her argument was that electric car companies like Tesla allegedly received
a substantial amount of government funding in the early stages of development, then laid
off most of their workforce to remain profitable. She wrote,
"Americans really need to get outraged by these wasteful ventures. As we've seen time
and time again, We the People are always stuck subsidizing the left's 'losers.'"
Elon Musk responded in his characteristic fashion, writing,
"Sarah Palin calls Tesla a loser. Am deeply wounded."
He also noted that "bricking" — when the car's lithium-ion battery pack is unplugged
for too long and cannot be revived — is covered under warranty.
On May 4, 2020, Elon Musk welcomed a son, X Æ A-Xii Musk ["ecks ash ay twelve"], with
his partner, Grimes. You'd think Musk would be busy spending quality time with his newborn
child, but the SpaceX founder has also been a constant presence on Twitter, complaining
about everything from COVID-19's effect on his business to cancel culture.
However, a tweet he sent thirteen days after his child was born was the last straw for
Grimes' mother, Sandy Garossino. The tweet?
"Take the red pill."
While most know this line from The Matrix, this phrase is now more associated with men's
rights activist groups, and is used to define a person's shift to more right-wing ideology.
This did not sit well with Garossino -- and while Grimes' mom is not technically a celebrity,
we still felt that this particular exchange was too good to pass up.
In a now-deleted tweet, Garossino made her thoughts known, saying,
"If your partner went through a challenging pregnancy and childbirth in the last two weeks...
And you were over 16 years old, would you be blaring MRA bulls--t on Twitter right now?"
Okay, then! And according to Metro, she also liked a tweet by journalist Yashar Ali that
read:
"Elon Musk's Twitter presence in the last few months feels very Kanye 2018."
We assume Musk won't be home when grandma comes to visit.
According to Business Insider, Elon Musk and fellow space pioneer Jeff Bezos had dinner
once in 2004 to exchange ideas as friendly rivals. But as Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Blue
Origin began their races into space, the rivalry stopped being polite and started getting real.
One of their first public dustups happened in 2013 when NASA, who stopped using their
launch pads two years prior, offered up a launch complex for private use. Naturally,
the two competitors vied for the rights to use it first. The fight led Bezos to file
a complaint with the U.S. government's General Accountability Office, a challenge to Musk
that he ultimately lost.
Musk then signed a 20-year lease for the exclusive rights to the famous site, but the feud didn't
end there. Six months later, Bezos hired Rajeev Badyal — the former SpaceX vice president
of satellites who Musk fired — to head Amazon's Project Kuiper, the initiative to use low
Earth orbit satellites to provide global high-speed internet.
Hiring a disgruntled employee from your chief rival? That's a bold flex, Jeff.
In yet another chapter in this billionaire cold war, Musk secured yet another coveted
NASA contract in April 2021, this time worth nearly $3 billion. The new mission? Returning
astronauts to the moon.
Ars Technica reporter Eric Berger tweeted that Bezos was "livid" about the decision
and moved to fight this one too. Now's a good time to take a moment to consider just how
powerful these guys are -- they're literally fighting over the moon.
Are you sitting down for this? If not, grab a chair.
No list like this is complete without controversy magnet Azealia Banks, and wow, does her Elon
Musk story deliver. According to a series of Instagram stories in 2018, Banks claimed
that Grimes invited her over to Musk's Los Angeles mansion to work on new music. But
instead of working on new tracks, Banks said she spent the weekend in the mansion alone,
while Grimes was comforting Musk after he made the controversial announcement on Twitter.
"Am considering taking Tesla private at $420 [per share]. Funding secured."
Turns out the funding wasn't secured and Musk was ordered to pay $20 million by the SEC.
"I - I - I want - I want to be clear, I do not respect the SEC."
Banks alleged Musk sent that fateful tweet "while tripping on acid," and described her
weekend at the house as a, quote, "episode of Get Out."
She also called Musk,
"A beta male who took steroids and got hair plugs to convince himself he was alpha."
Yikes.
According to Gizmodo, Musk claimed he never met Banks, and a Tesla spokesperson told Jalopnik
that Banks' story was, quote, "complete nonsense."
Banks then pushed back, saying to Business Insider,
"I saw him in the kitchen tucking his tail in between his legs scrounging for investors
to cover his ass after that tweet."
She also claimed, quote, "I could run Tesla better than he does."
In May 2020, Tesla filed suit against California's Alameda County after the automaker's Fremont
plant was ordered to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elon Musk then took things a bit further by then threatening to pull the company out of
the state entirely. This did not sit well with San Diego's Democratic Assemblywoman
Lorena Gonzalez, who bluntly shot back on Twitter,
"F--k Elon Musk."
While that seemed definitive, Gonzalez wasn't done, tweeting,
"California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety
& well-being, has engaged in union-busting & bullies public servants. I probably could've
expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would've cared if I
tweeted that."
Musk's response?
"Message received."
The story made national news, which led CNN to invite Gonzalez on to discuss her position
further. Spoiler: She didn't back down.
"For a company that has received billions of dollars — that's with a 'B,' billions
of dollars — You know, it's just unacceptable at some point. “
The assemblywoman stated further,
"I think we should all be outraged that a billionaire who has gotten so much from their
partnership in California but continues to put workers in unsafe positions, continues
to union bust, continues to wave his middle finger at California."
We assume Gonzalez won't get a discount on a Tesla any time soon.
Ken Jennings, the 74-time Jeopardy! champion, also jumped into the Twitter fray to criticize
Elon Musk on his decision to reopen his Tesla facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posting a screenshot of Musk's tweet that read,
"Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line
with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."
In response, Jennings offered up this quip:
"Can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Elon Musk, but he is absolutely correct: please
arrest Elon Musk."
Not very subtle.
And of course, the terminally online Musk had a reply to that too. He tweeted,
"All other car companies are allowed to manufacture *except* Tesla, you knucklehead. No wonder
you got crushed by a computer the size of a pizza box."
In his jab back at Jennings, Musk was referring to Jennings' 2011 performance in Jeopardy!'s
"Man vs. Machine" tournament, where he and another returning show champion were defeated
by Watson, the famous IBM supercomputer.
Twitter feuds? Let's make it a true Daily Double, Alex.
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