Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has responded to criticism from comedian John Oliver after Oliver dedicated 30 minutes to critiquing Musk on his show “Last Week Tonight.”
In a tweet, Musk stated that Oliver “was great several years ago” but has “stopped being funny” after he “sold his soul to wokeness.” Musk argued that in the current “woke” climate, humor is “basically illegal.”
The Lengthy Critique
In the segment, Oliver spent over half an hour scrutinizing various aspects of Musk’s career and public persona. He compared Musk to famous movie villains and highlighted concerns over Musk’s leadership style and some of his more outlandish business ideas like the Tesla Cybertruck.
Oliver also praised some of Musk’s unambiguous achievements, stating “The fact is, whether we like it or not — and the answer is absolutely not — a huge number of very important things going forward are going to depend on how Elon is feeling, which is a terrifying thing to say about anyone but especially this guy.
Reactions to the Segment
Many of Musk’s supporters also took issue with Oliver’s prolonged focus on criticizing Musk. One supporter tweeted that while “Some people send rockets into space...Others make fun of people who send rockets into space.”
But Oliver has built his career on mocking public figures regardless of popularity or achievement. This is far from the first time Oliver has used his platform to skewer business leaders and politicians.
Musk’s Great Influence
There is no denying, however, that Elon Musk holds unparalleled influence in shaping the future of electric vehicles, space travel, clean energy, and even social media. His companies Tesla and SpaceX have achieved tremendous success in popularizing EVs and revolutionizing the commercial space industry.
And despite controversies, Musk continues to garner attention and wield vast resources to pursue innovative technology projects with global ramifications. This perhaps more than anything irritates critics like John Oliver who bemoan the outsized control Musk has to chart the course of transformative industries.
Fiery Pushback
But the Tesla chief clearly has no patience for the comedian’s lengthy criticism of his career, leadership, and public behavior. Musk has never backed down from those looking to cut him down to size and this latest fiery tweet exchange with John Oliver adds to Musk’s reputation for punching back against detractors.
Musk continues to take an unfiltered public approach on issues that matter to him, regardless of who it puts him crossways with. And for better or worse, Musk’s companies and bombastic persona look to continue stirring passions on all sides as he forges ahead pursuing his ambitious vision of the future.
