Actor and activist Cassandra Peterson—best known for playing the gothic horror character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—had social media users cackling after she mocked billionaire Elon Musk by painting "Elon sux" on the side of her Tesla before donating it to NPR, angering Trump supporters in the process.
In her debut video, Peterson steps away from her iconic Elvira persona. Gone are the signature brunette wig and the plunging black gown — instead, she sports a casual black beanie.
Smiling and waving from the driver’s seat of her silver Tesla, with her white dog perched on her lap, she greets viewers warmly and says:
“I hope you enjoy the new paint job on my Tesla as much as I do.”
As she pulls away, the camera captures a cheeky detail: the words “Elon Sux” are emblazoned on the side of her car, cleverly using the X logo from Musk’s social media platform. Over the soundtrack, audio of a woman’s voice chimes in, exclaiming, “Oh god, look at it — it’s perfect.”
Peterson took a jab at Musk in the caption of her post by sharing her own five-point answer to the question, “What did you do last week?” — a clear reference to an email Musk had sent to tens of thousands of federal employees, demanding they outline their accomplishments in a five-bullet point format or face the threat of termination.
It reads:
“What did you do last week?: 1: Woke up, 2: Brushed my teeth, 3: Signed autographs; 4: Your mom; 5: Got a new paint job on my Tesla!”
You can see the post and video below.
In a follow-up video, Peterson sports sunglasses, a chain necklace, and a black cap reading “Make America Goth Again” — a playful twist on the black “Make America Great Again” hat that Musk has been frequently seen wearing at recent public events.
She says:
“There goes my Elon Sux-mobile! I’m donating it to NPR!"
As the car gets loaded onto a tow truck, Peterson waves a chainsaw over her head while AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” blares in the background. She caps off the moment by flipping off the vehicle. That she used a chainsaw is itself a reference to the one Musk brandished at last month's CPAC conference, symbolizing DOGE's commitment to slashing federal budgets.
You can see her post and the video below.
Peterson's act of defiance is reminiscent of Sheryl Crow who went viral last month after selling her Tesla and donating proceeds to NPR, in the face of Republicans trying to defund such public broadcasting outlets as NPR and PBS.
NPR was founded in 1967 by Congress to establish a nonprofit radio network with full autonomy over its programming, according to Middle Tennessee State University. Over the years, the organization has been criticized for political bias from both liberal and conservative perspectives.
This week, CBS Austin reported that the conservative Washington D.C. think tank Media Research Center (MRC) launched a petition last month calling for the defunding of public broadcasters. The group argued that in today’s crowded media landscape, the need for such organizations no longer exists. Tim Graham, MRC's executive editor, wrote that public broadcasting “serves a narrow slice of America, an audience of wealthy liberal elites.”
And Peterson's stunt worked—getting under the skin of many MAGA fans.
And others loved her move.
Tesla continues to face backlash as anger toward Musk—and DOGE—grows.
This week, police and firefighters responded to a blaze at The Point Shopping Center near Boston, Massachusetts, where Tesla charging stations were found “engulfed in flames and heavy, dark smoke.” Authorities reported that seven charging stations were damaged and stated the “fire appears to have been intentionally set,” though no injuries were reported.
The fury is also present in Europe; last month, activists in London put up fake Tesla "Swasticar" ads at bus stops to call out Musk's support of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which the German domestic intelligence agency placed under surveillance, citing concerns over suspected right-wing extremism—a claim the party denies.
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