Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk stands in front of the shattered windows of the newly unveiled ... [+]
AFP via Getty ImagesThere was a time when Elon Musk really admired The Onion, to the point where he expressed interest in buying it.
According to the Daily Beast, Musk used to regularly email The Onion’s writers and editors about jokes he enjoyed. Nowadays, he seems to have lost his affection for the biting satirical publication, after they cut a little close to the bone.
For the last few years, the Onion has been mocking Elon Musk, with humorous headlines like, “Elon Musk Insists He’d Be Much More Innovative Pedophile Than Thailand Rescue Worker,” and “Elon Musk Gives Saudi Investors Presentation On New Autonomous Beheading Machine For Adulterers.”
Hence, on Thursday, The Onion released a satirical piece that described the source of Musk’s multi-billion fortune in a single word - apartheid. Musk, seemingly a sensitive soul, didn’t like that at all.
The Onion, of course, is referring to “the emeralds.”
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It is often claimed that Musk’s father, Errol Musk, once owned shares in a Zambian emerald mine, and that Musk subsequently enjoyed an incredibly privileged upbringing.
Despite Musk’s self-described journey from rags to riches, climbing his way out of crippling student debt to become one of the wealthiest human beings on the face of the planet, Rolling Stone reported in 2017 that, “Errol was, by his own account, making money in the often dangerous worlds of construction and emerald mining - at times so much that he claims he couldn’t close his safe.”
The gem mining industry is notoriously … dirty, so one can see why Musk might not appreciate The Onion associating his image with bloodsoaked emeralds.
Not to mention the fact that the claim clashes with the image of Musk being a self-made billionaire, a titan of industry who seeks to transcend humanity into a space-faring civilization; that narrative rings a little hollow when one thinks of Musk as some trust fund baby.
Reportedly, Musk used to casually walk around the streets of New York with emeralds in his pocket, which sounds like it should be Thanos’ origin story.
Hence, The Onion’s “apartheid” joke flew a little too close to the sun, and Musk’s temper exploded like a SpaceX rocket.
Musk scolded The Onion for not being sufficiently deferential, and even suggested rival satirical news site the Babylon Bee, which, by sheer coincidence, writes glowing stories about Musk that hardly read like satire at all.
The Babylon Bee features headlines that frame Musk as the superhero he clearly wants to be, such as “Elon Musk Rescues Texans With Giant Flamethrower Mech,” or “California Police Attempt To Arrest Elon Musk's Holographic Decoy As Real Musk Escapes On Rocket To Mars.”
Did you understand the humor behind those headlines? Me neither.
The Babylon Bee is also the kind of hard-hitting satirical publication that makes “I identify as an attack helicopter,” jokes, repeated ad infinitum. The publication’s habit of reaching for low-hanging fruit and idolizing billionaires certainly seems to have impressed Musk.
Perhaps Musk might buy the Babylon Bee next, if he still has a couple of those emeralds clinking in his pockets.
The Link LonkMarch 26, 2021 at 11:03PM
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Elon Musk Gets Triggered By A Joke From ‘The Onion’ - Forbes
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