In an unexpected clash, comedian John Oliver found himself on the receiving end of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s counterattack. The feud ignited when Oliver dedicated a segment on his show, Last Week Tonight, to humorously dissect Musk’s ventures, ranging from SpaceX to X (formerly Twitter). Oliver’s comedic take, laden with witty remarks and satirical commentary, painted Musk as a perfect fit for the villain role.
Not one to shy away, Musk surely didn’t appreciate the remarks of the show’s host and fired back at Oliver’s comments, accusing the comedian of succumbing to “wokeness.”
John Oliver roasted Elon Musk on Last Week Tonight
The clash began when John Oliver dedicated a segment on his show, Last Week Tonight, to Elon Musk. Oliver’s comedic take on the business tycoon’s ventures, from SpaceX to Tesla, was filled with witty remarks and satirical commentary. He portrayed Musk as a character who could play any villain in a movie, highlighting his diverse looks and likening him to various fictional antagonists.
The comedian shared, “This is our final show of the year, so we thought we’d focus on someone who’s had a pretty big 12 months. Elon Musk is a man who can pull off pretty much any bad guy in a movie. There’s Lex Luthor posing for the cover of Metropolis Maniacs Monthly. There’s, ‘Why no, Mr. Bond, I and my child’s bride expect you to die.’ There’s, ‘I just bought your media company, and I’m about to strip you for parts.’ There’s space’s first racist sheriff and, finally, the less f**kable reimagining of Billy Zane’s character in Titanic. Truly, the man has range.”
Oliver’s critique delved into Musk’s eventful year, covering everything from the successful “test launching the most powerful rocket ever built to just this week, having to recall 2 million cars due to safety concerns.” He didn’t shy away from discussing Musk’s social media endeavors, including challenging Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight and the controversies surrounding Musk’s Twitter activities.
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Finally, his monologue addressed one of Musk’s major decisions, which is the rebranding of Twitter as X. Oliver continued, “And then, of course, there is Twitter. He now calls it X, but the rest of us still call it Twitter. He officially acquired it 12 months ago. And since then, it has been one fiasco after another, with the most recent coming when he tweeted his agreement with [an] anti-semitic post calling the ‘great replacement theory’ the actual truth. That caused many big advertisers to flee. And then, in the midst of denying any anti-semitic intent, Elon decided to taunt the sponsors who had left.”
The last comment of Oliver took into account Musk’s remarks after his sponsors left him for his alleged anti-semantic remarks. Musk stated, “If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f**k yourself. Go f**k yourself, is that clear? I hope it is.”
Of course, Oliver didn’t stop there as he taunted one of the world’s richest men for embarrassing himself. The comedian commented, “Wow, it is hard to say what’s most embarrassing there. The fact that the world’s richest man is playing the ‘You’re not breaking up with me, I’m breaking up with you’ card, or that he’s doing it to confused silence while wearing a jacket from Ralph Lauren’s ‘Midlife Crisis’ collection. He’s clearly going for a bad boy there but ended up looking more like … Chip from Rescue Rangers.”
Elon Musk’s counterattack against John Oliver
In response to Oliver’s comedic analysis, Elon Musk fired back with some sharp criticism. He labeled Oliver’s humor “weak sauce” and accused him of succumbing to “wokeness.” Musk tweeted, “It is rather tragic to see an otherwise capable comedian like @iamjohnoliver become weak sauce. The reason he is not very funny these days is because he is too keen to pander to wokeness, which is fundamentally a lie, whereas great humor requires revealed truth.”
When approached at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for his response to Musk’s comments, John Oliver maintained his composure and humor. He dismissed Musk’s criticism, attributing it to the billionaire being “thin-skinned”, as retrieved via TMZ. The comedian suggested that Musk might not fully grasp the nuances of the term “woke” and framed him as out of touch with contemporary political correctness and cultural sensitivity discussions.
Oliver further stated that he could not be a psychologist to Musk and even questioned the businessman’s understanding of his jokes. Rather than delving into a profound analysis of Musk’s psyche, the comedian opted for a lighthearted response. When questioned about the possibility of the feud continuing, he humorously deflected, staying true to his comedic style.
The clash between John Oliver and Elon Musk surely is something that shocked netizens, especially with their direct attacks against each other. As these two influential personalities continue to rebut each other’s statements, it is yet to be seen if this comedic duel will escalate or fizzle out.
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