Elon Musk Blasted After Using R-Word to Mock Ben Stiller After Actor Declared 'Tropic Thunder' Would Never Be Made in 2024
Elon Musk referred to Ben Stiller by the R-word in a social media post.
Nov. 28 2024, Published 7:38 a.m. ET
Elon Musk has been slammed for using the R-word to mock Hollywood actor Ben Stiller.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the tech tycoon, 53, was responding to claims made by Stiller regarding his 2008 movie Tropic Thunder, in which he declared the comedy could not be made in the present day.
Musk was responding to claims made by Stiller 'edgier comedy' doesn't work in 2024.
The movie, a comedy following a group of actors making a big-budget Vietnam war film, sparked controversy due to Robert Downey Jr's character "blacking up" and Stiller playing a mentally challenged 'farm boy' called Simple Jack.
Musk shared a news post on X containing an article about Stiller’s comments featuring the headline “Ben Stiller says woke America killed ‘edgier’ comedy", alongside a caption — borrowed from the movie — “Damn, he went full r----d.”
Stiller insists 'Tropic Thunder' would not be made in present day.
Critics quickly denounced Musk's use of the slur, calling it ableist and inappropriate, regardless of its cinematic origins.
Many questioned Musk's decision to use such language on a platform he owns, highlighting its potential to amplify harmful rhetoric.
However, others defended him, arguing the quote was a callback to the film’s satirical intent.
Stiller, 58, opened up about Tropic Thunder while expressing his doubts over "edgier comedy" being accepted in modern day Hollywood.
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He said: "I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.
"I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks.
"He read it and was like, 'Alright, let's make this thing.' It's a very inside movie when you think about it."
The Dodgeball star pointed to Downey Jr's character Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor and five-time Academy Award winner, who got himself a controversial "pigmentation alteration" surgery so he could play a black soldier in the film.
The Tesla boss is being slammed on his own platform for using the R-word.
He said: "But yeah, 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. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards.
"But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest.”
Last year, Stiller responded to a fan on X who asked the actor to “stop apologising for doing this movie”.
The actor wrote: "I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don’t know who told you that.
"It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work that everyone did on it.”
Robert Downey Jr defended the use of black face in 'Tropic Thunder'.
Downey Jr's portrayal of the character has received some criticism over the years, but the actor, who won a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for the role, has defended the use of blackface in the film before.
He said: "There used to be an understanding with an audience, and I’m not saying that the audience is no longer understanding – I'm saying that things have gotten very muddied.
"The spirit that Stiller directed and cast and shot Tropic Thunder in was, essentially, as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and (that) had been perpetuated for too long."
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