Elon Musk used an ableist slur to go after actor Ben Stiller in response to his support of Vice President Kamala Harris in her failed election campaign and a misleading headline from a Daily Mail article in which Stiller said movies like 2008's Tropic Thunder probably wouldn't fly today.
The Tesla CEO, whom President-elect Donald Trump chose to co-lead his planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board, shared author John LeFevre's post on X (formerly Twitter) that included a screenshot of a Daily Mail headline that read, "Ben Stiller says woke America killed 'edgier' comedy.”
LeFevre captioned his post:
“Says this.... Endorsed Kamala."
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Musk shared LeFevre's post and wrote, “Damn he went full [R-word]," followed by two laughing emojis.
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Many thought Musk's use of the R-word was rich considering he threatened to treat descriptive terms like "cis" or "cisgender" as slurs on his X platform.
The self-described advocate of "free speech" has publicly spoken against the use of the term "cisgender," which refers to people whose gender identity is the same one assigned at birth.
A year after he acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X, he declared on his platform:
“Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions. The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform.”
While the site didn't follow up with policy modifications, it seems the R-word gets a free pass from the X CEO, and he was admonished for it.
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Musk's use of the R-word referred to a line heard in Tropic Thunder, which Stiller co-wrote and starred in. The film is about prima donna actors making a Vietnam War movie who suddenly rely on their acting skills to survive in the jungle after a tragic mishap leaves them stranded.
In terms of the Daily Mail headline, the actor was misquoted. He never used the word "woke" in sharing his observations about the evolution of acceptable comedy standards.
In a recent Collider interview, Stiller was asked if movies like Tropic Thunder could get made today.
The question was in response to the film's backlash at the time of release on two controversial issues raised by critics and audiences.
The first offensive issue was for its portrayal of intellectual disability and its depiction of white actor Robert Downey Jr. donning blackface–which is criticized and pointed out by an African American in the movie.
Stiller replied:
“I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do.”
He continued:
"…The idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too."
Stiller said that the only reason they attempted to move forward with the film was because he felt "the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on—actors trying to do anything to win awards."
He added:
"But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest."
In August, Stiller said he was voting for Harris, expressing he was "excited about moving forward, " that it was "time for change," and that Harris and her then-running mate Tim Walz were "incredible candidates."
Trump has publicly used the R-word numerous times to attack his political opponents.
During the 2024 election cycle, he referred to Democratic President Joe Biden as "[R-word] Joe Biden" and Harris as the R-word.
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