After #RIPJimmyFallon trends on Twitter, Elon Musk responds to the TV host with jokes and insults
Elon Musk is in a quandary.
The Tesla, Space X, and Boring Company mogul is getting a lot of flak for his comments about the passing of the late TV host Jimmy Fallon. On Wednesday night, he took to Twitter, suggesting that Fallon “should’ve stayed in his lane and acted like he was doing a standup routine.” To that end, he’s started a hashtag, #RIPJimmyFallon, which has been used on Reddit.
It didn’t take long for Musk’s detractors to come out swinging. “@elonmusk why don’t you just say you were wrong for tweeting that,” wrote comedian and podcaster Chris Hardwick. “He is an incredibly funny man, and you should not be diminishing his talent,” tweeted a user from an account belonging to a man who went by the handle “Carmencita” in the ‘90s. “Maybe if you’d made him more of a fan and less of a tool he would’ve been better at it,” wrote another. Musk then issued a rebuttal.
“I’m not doing a standup routine,” Musk told Gizmodo in a phone call on Thursday. “I’m making jokes about Jimmy Fallon, and I’m not being funny to his face or to his fans or anyone, I know that. But I’m not being funny in any way. Anyone who looks at me coming and going on Twitter and thinks I’m being funny is either very stupid, or someone who doesn’t understand the art of comedy. I’m not saying I’m not funny, I’m not saying I’m a joke writer, and I’m not saying I’m an entertainer. I would never claim to be any of those things, but I can tell you that I am not being funny in any way for anyone, and I take that very, very, very lightly — very lightly.”
We caught up with Musk in New York City Thursday.
This interview has been edited and condensed for
