JIM WATSON/AFP/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Elon Musk said the booing audience at Dave Chappelle’s comedy show was a “first for me in real life.”
Last month, an early Twitter investor warned that the billionaire is surrounded by “yes men.”
In October, a trove of texts between Musk and big names in tech and media painted a similar picture.
Apparently the richest man in the world isn’t used to being booed — at least not in person.
After Elon Musk was booed by the audience at a Dave Chappelle’s comedy show on Sunday, the billionaire took to Twitter to make light of the situation, dubbing it a “first for me in real life.”
“Technically, it was 90% cheers & 10% boos (except during quiet periods), but, still, that’s a lot of boos, which is a first for me in real life (frequent on Twitter),” Musk tweeted. “It’s almost as if I’ve offended SF’s unhinged leftists … but nahhh.”
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2022
The billionaire Tesla CEO made the comment after a Twitter user responded to his thread on Twitter that appeared to mock both the use of pronouns and chief White House medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci.
“Truth resonates,” Musk tweeted on Monday morning.
“So does a crowd full of boos,” the Twitter user said.
Videos from the comedy show in San Francisco that were posted on Twitter show people cheering and booing as Chappelle invited Musk onto the stage.
“Cheers and boos, I see,” Chappelle said in the videos.
“Weren’t expecting this, were you?” Musk responded.
In the videos, the Twitter owner appears chastened by the negative feedback. At one point he asks Chappelle, “Dave, what should I say?”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.
Both Musk and Chappelle have faced backlash for anti-LGBTQ+ comments.
Still, it’s not surprising that Musk would be taken aback by the audience’s displeasure on Sunday night. In many areas in his life, he is surrounded by praise.
Earlier this year, a trove of text messages between Musk and some of the biggest names in tech and media were revealed as part of the discovery process in Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk. The texts showed that the billionaire received a slew of praise for his plans to take Twitter private.
They included offers to run the company for him, requests for accounts to be reinstated, requests for meetings, and the names of relatives to be considered for roles. People like billionaire investor Marc Andreessen, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Axel Springer CEO Matthias Döpfner, and media personalities Joe Rogan, Tim Urban, and Gayle King were quick to praise Musk or offer to lend a hand. (Axel Springer is the parent company of Insider.)
Last month, during a trial over Musk’s Tesla compensation package, a Tesla shareholder argued that the billionaire has brought some of his closest friends onto the electric carmaker’s board of directors — from his brother, Kimbal Musk, to longtime associates like Antonio Gracias and James Murdoch.
At Twitter, Musk has also brought in some of his closest associates to assist in the transition, including PayPal mafia member David Sacks and personal attorney Alex Spiro.
Most recently, early Twitter investor Chris Sacca warned that Musk is surrounded by “yes men” who are “stoking insanity.”
“One of the biggest risks of wealth/power is no longer having anyone around you who can push back, give candid feedback, suggest alternatives, or just simply let you know you’re wrong,” Sacca, founder of Lowercase Capital, wrote on Twitter last month. “He has plenty of ‘pals’ and is the life of parties and dinners. But the hard truth is that he is straight-up alone right now and winging this,” he added.
The tweet thread was later deleted.