Elon Musk’s 10 Most Peculiar and Contentious Historical Moments

Elon Musk: An Innovator Who Pushes Limits

Throughout the years, Elon Musk has been at the heart of many scandals. Musk deserves a lot of accolades, but in reality, he has turned into a controversial character who seems to be more interested in making jokes and publishing offensive content on Twitter. One of the bizarre incidents occurred in 2018, during an episode of The Joe Rogan Podcast, Musk surprised viewers by choosing to puff on marijuana throughout the interview. The South African native's response to the incident swiftly gained popularity on social media. The investor said later that year that he had no idea what he was doing. In December 2018, he told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes, "I am somewhat impulsive. I don’t really want to try to adhere to some CEO template. I do not smoke pot. As anyone who watched that podcast can tell I have no idea how to smoke pot or anything." Here are some of his strangest and most contentious episodes because it's hard to appreciate someone's virtues without also being reminded of their flaws.

1. His Mocking Reference to Delivering “Space Dragons With Lasers” to Ukraine

In jest, Musk once said he would send "space dragons with 'lasers'" to Ukraine. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX commented in response to a satirical post published on The Babylon Bee that claimed Musk will ship electric tanks that shoot flames to Ukraine. In reaction to the satirical article, Musk said, "Pshaw, how pedestrian! I was thinking more … space dragons with ‘lasers’." In addition, Musk has been commended by the president of Ukraine for establishing the Starlink satellite internet service after the Russian invasion, even if he isn't deploying flame-throwing tanks or space dragons just yet.

2. Nonsense and Memes on Twitter

Nearly a month after taking over Twitter, Musk went back to one of his pastimes the day after Thanksgiving. "I’m just fighting for free speech in America," he tweeted. The free speech tweet was one of 28 that he tweeted that day, starting just after midnight and after comments on how delicious his Thanksgiving lunch was. It was sent in response to two followers who expressed dissatisfaction with Musk's treatment since he acquired the social network in late October. Tesla investors had to essentially urge Musk to "shut up" in 2018 because his tweets were becoming so unpredictable and strange that it was costing them money. At the time he settled a multi-million dollar legal dispute with the Shortseller Enrichment Commission on allegations of security fraud, and he had tweeted about the commission. 

3. Demanding "Single Combat" from Vladimir Putin

On March 14, 2022, SpaceX founder went to Twitter to directly confront Russian President Vladimir Putin. Musk asked Putin in later tweets and he also tagged the official Twitter account of the Kremlin, "Do you agree to this fight?" Musk said that he was "absolutely serious" as well. The tweet went viral fast, with some people cheekily referring to unfounded allegations that Putin rode bears and would be a strong opponent, given his honorary black belt in Taekwondo. As of this writing, Putin did not react to the Tesla founder's call for a battle. Others pointed out that there were more beneficial methods to support the war-torn country, such as making donations to respectable groups, such as the "Send Putin to Jupiter" campaign.

4. The Unusual Names of His Children

Grimes revealed her pregnancy in January 2020 with a photo of her growing baby bulge, and on May 4, 2020, Grimes and Musk had their first child. Partly inspired by the CIA's Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, their son X ̆ A-12 (later renamed X ̆ A-Xii) bore the name of the spy plane. Despite having the moniker "X," Grimes clarified how to pronounce him in her Instagram comments. As reported by People she wrote, "It's just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I." She even provided a detailed explanation of its significance on Twitter.

5. Referring to a Man Who Saved Kids From a Cave as a “Pedo Guy”

One of the most spectacular events of 2018 was the June rescue of the twelve boys who were trapped in a cave in Thailand. But a disagreement sprang out between Musk and Vernon Unsworth, a skilled cave diver who was enlisting professionals to assist with the rescue. Musk didn't utilize the engineers and the tiny submarine he deployed to Thailand for the project. Later, Unsworth said that Musk should "stick his submarine where it hurts" and accused Musk of being a publicity stunt writer. Musk responded to Unsworth with a slew of derogatory tweets, referring to him as a "pedo guy" among other things.

6. His Weird Theories About COVID-19

Musk once incited controversy by asserting that there is "some debate" over the safety of Covid-19 vaccinations. This was the most recent in a series of dubious remarks and inaccurate forecasts made by the vocal auto magnate since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Just under 2,000 new coronavirus infections were recorded in the US in a single day, but Musk predicted that by the end of April, there would be "zero new cases" in the nation. Despite evidence showing that children may get the virus and become ill from it, he further maintained that "kids are essentially immune" to the coronavirus.

7. Making Fun of Pronouns

Musk's decision to make fun of pronouns for no apparent reason other than that he didn't like them was another incident from last year that painted him in a negative light. He said on Twitter in July 2020 that "pronouns suck," and in December of the same year, he posted a meme that suggested those who use pronouns in their social media biographies are attempting to oppress others. He did not apologize for the image, even though it caused controversy. He later tweeted in defense, "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare." 

8. High-Speed Transportation Through Tunnels

In addition to SpaceX and Tesla, Musk's current major endeavor is The Boring Company, which he sees as the vehicle of the future for inner-city transportation. As reported by the Washinton Post, even at the project's 2018 debut, he mentioned this: "If you do hundreds of tunnels and have dozens of small stations woven throughout the fabric of the city, you can actually, without even the city appearing different, you could solve the transport problem. Compared to an above-ground system or compared to a flying car, you don’t have to worry about bad weather. You can’t see it, hear it, feel it, you’re not dividing communities with lanes, and we think we can make this really fun."

9. When Zelensky Chastised Him for Trying to Put an End to Ukraine’s War

President Volodymyr Zelensky was not pleased with Musk's attempt, for whatever reason, to use a Twitter poll to try to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The CEO of Tesla made several recommendations, one of which was that the fictitious referendums in the seized territories had to be held again under UN supervision, with the Russian aggressors withdrawing if that was the "will of the people." In addition, he said that Crimea ought to officially join Russia, adding later that this "has been since 1783" and that Ukraine ought to maintain its neutrality after the war.

10. Changing His Handle From Elon to Elona

Musk allegedly became "Elona Musk" on Twitter in response to mockery directed against the billionaire by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The leader of the Russian region of Chechnya and a close supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kadyrov, responded to Musk's tweet by taking multiple jabs at him, referring to it as a challenge to "single combat." The warlord said in a Telegram message that Putin would defeat Musk in a battle. Making contrasts between the two individuals, he called Musk "tender Elona" and said that they belonged to "two completely different weight classes." He described Musk as only a "businessman and a Twitter blogger," calling Putin "a world politician, strategist, a nemesis of the West and the USA."