Elon Musk Uses ‘Tropic Thunder’ Slur to Insult Ben Stiller

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When Elon Musk isn’t busy running Tesla and maintaining his rank as one of the world’s top players on Diablo 4, he could be sharing polarizing posts on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Musk called Ben Stiller a derogatory name on his X account as a response to comments the actor made about the difficulties of making comedy movies that push boundaries today.

Musk, 53, shared a post on X on Wednesday, November 27 of someone that called out Stiller, 58, for endorsing Kamala Harris in this year’s election. The original post had an image of a Daily Mail article with a headline that said, “Ben Stiller says woke America killed ‘edgier’ comedy,” with a picture of Simple Jack, one of Stiller’s characters from Tropic Thunder.

The Tesla CEO wrote, “Damn he went full ret**d 🤣🤣” referring to Stiller. Musk’s blunt comment, which is a callback to a quote in the movie, came in the midst of an online discussion about the film and its controversial portrayal of sensitive topics. The billionaire’s remark drew some backlash from fans and commentators who criticized his choice of language as well as support from like minded individuals.

One user took to the comment section of his post to disagree with Musk and wrote, “That word is not acceptable in the UK. Please don’t use it @elonmusk,” while a second disagreed, writing, “I can’t tell you how much I love this post!!!” A third simply made a comment about Tropic Thunder and said, “🤣🤣🤣 Movie still remains a comedic masterpiece though.”

The discourse surrounding Musk and Stiller was initially sparked by an interview that was published by Collider on Monday, November 25, in which the actor was asked if he thought a movie like Tropic Thunder could be made today.

Stiller, who starred and directed the 2008 comedy, responded and said, “I doubt it,” before telling the outlet that, “Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do.” He also admitted that “even at the time we were fortunate to get it made,” and gave the credit to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks for making it happen.

Stiller also mentioned Robert Downey Jr’s controversial character from the film and said, “the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.” Later in the interview he also revealed that the only reason they attempted the joke in the first place was because he “felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards.”

The plot of Tropic Thunder follows a group of actors shooting a war movie who end up in a real conflict in Southeast Asia completely by accident. The film clearly parodies Hollywood stereotypes and the movie-making process, blending humor with absurd situations. The film received acclaim for its sharp satire and notably bold performances.