Elon Musk responds to John Oliver takedown

Billionaire Elon Musk shot back at comedian John Oliver after he issued a scathing takedown of the entrepreneur and businessman on his HBO show over the weekend.

During the more than 30-minute segment, Oliver mocked Musk over his acquisition and handling of Twitter, his embrace of antisemitic conspiracy theories and other controversies surrounding his various businesses.

“History is littered with titans of business who were shitty or broken people, from Thomas Edison from Henry Ford through Steve Jobs. The difference is, by and large, they didn’t open up their brain to let the whole world have a constant look inside, but Elon does,” Oliver said during the takedown. “And the glimpses we get can be terrifying.”

Related coverage from The Hill

• EU opens ‘formal proceedings’ into X over potential violations of Digital Services Act
• John Oliver spends 30 minutes taking down Elon Musk
• Judge threatens to force Musk testimony in SEC probe: Report
• Elon Musk’s mom ‘furious’ at Biden after FCC denies Starlink subsidy

Musk responded to Oliver on Monday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Oliver was great several years ago, but stopped being funny when he sold his soul to wokeness where humor is basically illegal,” Musk wrote.

Musk has repeatedly attacked mainstream media outlets and accused the press of trying to smear him and his businesses.

Last month, he sued progressive watchdog Media Matters for America after it published a report outlining how X was placing advertising next to hateful content on the platform, a report that led to a mass exodus of advertisers from the company.