Twitter got quite confused when author Neil Gaiman snarked on Twitter about Tesla CEO's hatred of the new Amazon Prime prequel series Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power.
Immediately after tweeting about it, Gaiman was attacked with tons of trolling replies from defensive fanboys of Musk and other haters of the Amazon show raking Gaiman over the coals for the poor job he did in writing the TV series.
Problem is, he isn't involved in the show at all, and Gaiman's friend and colleague actor Michael Sheen was happy to let them all know with a pitch-perfect roast for the ages.
I'm so sorry. I have taken your hurt to heart and promise that I will no longer make any Lord of the Rings based television for any network ever. https://t.co/pZrFFuwjHh
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 8, 2022
It all began when Musk criticized the Amazon series by saying Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien was "turning in his grave" over how supposedly awful the series is. Despite it being the streamer's most popular original show ever, many have criticized its diverse casting as overly "woke."
When a Gaiman fan asked him what he thought of Musk's critique, Gaiman had a perfect shady response, basically saying Musk should stick to electric cars and rocket-ship vanity projects and leave the television to the television makers.
But all too many people on Twitter jumped to conclusions, assuming Gaiman wrote the Amazon series and was defending his work—and they were not happy about it, excoriating him for not listening to fans' critiques.
Gaiman ended up clapping back and clapping back hard, hilariously without ever clarifying that he's not involved in the series in any way.
I'm so sorry. I have taken your hurt to heart and promise that I will no longer make any Lord of the Rings based television for any network ever. https://t.co/pZrFFuwjHh
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 8, 2022
He wrote:
"I'm so sorry. I have taken your hurt to heart and promise that I will no longer make any Lord of the Rings based television for any network ever."
LOLOLOLOL. And soon Sheen was chiming in too, keeping the joke going by also never making any clarification as to Gaiman's total lack of involvement with the show. He wrote:
"If you’re going to criticize the way Neil wrote LOTR you’ll have to go through me first. YOU SHALL NOT PASS! #IHaveNotYetBegunToFight"
Inspiring!
Naturally, those in on the joke on Twitter found this all hilarious, including Gaiman himself.
My love for @michaelsheen passeth all understanding. https://t.co/qrcQdYLESN
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 8, 2022
And soon many were having a good laugh about the absurd situation.
The world is sometimes so off its axis all you can do is laugh. People accusing Neil of ruining LOTR (that he had nothing to do with) and his friends running with the joke is making my day. https://t.co/qHWIPBw2aJ
— Julia (@JuliaAlterEgo) September 8, 2022
This entire kerfuffle is amazing, and Neil and company are tearing these morons apart.
Sandman and RoP are great. https://t.co/UMa5k4GDeC
— Godyssey (@GodysseyPodcast) September 9, 2022
This becomes better and better. I love them❤️
Neil/LotR is a quite funny era on Twitter 🤣 https://t.co/TPhpgt91er
— Sunshine_Dreamer🐬🌺🌸 (@MandellaMary) September 10, 2022
cryinggggggg https://t.co/imw9AlCVmr
— Indie Book Spotlight (@BookSpotlight) September 10, 2022
I love this hellsite. https://t.co/PfPnPePrQ7
— Dr Amy Hetherington (@akhetherington) September 9, 2022
We love a protective bestie https://t.co/bXno2Bih1h
— Anthropomorphic Superstar ✨The Sandman era✨ (@dreamofbtchless) September 8, 2022
Not everyone was laughing, though, as plenty of people still didn't get the point and replied to Sheen trying to set him straight—which of course only made the whole thing funnier.
I know, right? It's like he barely even touched his pen/keyboard! What a hack!
— Nikita Kress (@kressnik) September 8, 2022
Neil Gaiman had nothing to do with The Rings of Power
— I am moving to the Swedish wildnerness (@bobe_zim) September 8, 2022
Maybe cos he didn’t write it
— I am moving to the Swedish wildnerness (@bobe_zim) September 8, 2022
If you were looking for examples of how to perfectly lampoon trolls, you can't really do better than Sheen and Gaiman!
@WhiteHouse/X
