Joyce Carol Oates, one of America’s most acclaimed authors, has gone viral for an “unsolicited attack” on Elon Musk, calling the billionaire “totally uneducated and uncultured” in a tweet that has since amassed over three million views.
The comment came a day after Musk had a fiery exchange with Democratic Senator Roland Gutierrez on X, during which the Tesla CEO defended his shareholder-approved compensation plan, one that could make him the world’s first trillionaire.
When one of Musk’s supporters went viral for retweeting the exchange and celebrating the CEO for “annihilating” his opponent, Oates chimed in and went viral herself for a scathing attack on his character.
Author Joyce Carol Oates went viral for calling Elon Musk “uncultured” in a viral tweet
Image credits: Getty/Chip Somodevilla
Last Friday (November 7), Senator Roland Gutierrez accused Musk of enriching himself “on the backs of American taxpayers” while families “struggle to buy groceries.”
Before Musk could even reply, community notes corrected the senator, clarifying that his claim was false.
“The CEO compensation isn’t paid by taxpayers, or even by the company or customers. 100% of potential compensation is in the form of new shares. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor,” the note read.
Musk fired back, explaining the details surrounding his potential compensation package, noting that it would only materialize if Tesla met a series of ambitious milestones.
Image credits: teslamotors
“Regarding Tesla, the reality is that I have been given nothing,” Musk wrote.
“If I lead Tesla to become the most valuable company in the world by far and it stays that way for five years, shareholders voted to award me 12% of what is built. Anyone who wants to come along for the ride can buy Tesla stock.”
Image credits: Getty/Thos Robinson
“If Tesla ‘merely’ becomes a $1.999 trillion company, I get nothing,” he continued. “This is a great deal for shareholders, which is why they voted so overwhelmingly to approve this. And they did so by a margin far more than you won your political seat.”
The exchange drew over 3.3 million views, with supporters cheering Musk’s takedown.
“Hello, I would like to report a m*rder,” a fan joked in the viral post that would later become the starting point for the controversy.
Oates argued that, from her perspective, Musk’s online activity reflected that of a person who is “uneducated”
mage credits: JoyceCarolOates
The following day, Joyce Carol Oates replied to that fan post, steering the conversation in an entirely different direction that had nothing to do with politics or Tesla shareholders.
Oates argued that Musk’s online behavior reflected the mindset of someone detached from ordinary human interests.
She pointed out that, despite his wealth, he rarely shared anything suggesting appreciation for art, literature, nature, or personal connections.
Image credits: TED
From her perspective, his online behavior contrasted with that of everyday people who, in her view, find more beauty and meaning in life despite having considerably less resources.
Within hours, her post exploded. Musk’s opponents, particularly those who resent his past support for President Donald Trump, welcomed Oates’ assessment as fresh ammunition in his ongoing clash with the Democratic senator.
Others, however, blasted it as a pretentious and bitter rant from what they saw as an out-of-touch intellectual.
Defenders of Musk flooded the replies, accusing Oates of misunderstanding the nature of his public persona
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“If you watched the Tesla annual shareholder meeting, he referred to several sci-fi authors in reference to the future he aspires to create,” wrote one user. “I would wager he has read far more and far more broadly than you might dare to.”
Others were far more intense in their backlash.
“I pity you. At the end of your life you are realizing that you have failed to form a family. No one will shed a tear at your grave. My condolences.”
Image credits: elonmusk
Some argued that Musk’s absence of “cultural” posts simply reflected the way he chooses to interact with social media.
“Elon doesn’t perform sentimentality online because he’s too busy building the systems future generations will depend on,” a user wrote.
“To reduce a mind like his to ‘uncultured’ because he doesn’t publicly coo over sunsets is shallow.”
“The internet is full of people who praise what exists,” the user continued. “There are far fewer who create what didn’t. Engineering is a form of art.”
Oates seemingly backtracked her initial assessment, arguing that she wasn’t attacking Musk specifically, but the “idea” of a wealthy man
Image credits: Flickr/gageskidmore
As the backlash continued, Oates decided to address the fallout of her own words today (November 10), denying that she was addressing Musk specifically despite having replied to a conversation centered around him.
“In speculating about the ‘wealthiest man in the world,’ I did not actually state any name. I was thinking of the emblematic, the type of being that great wealth can make possible,” she said.
Image credits: Getty/Rosdiana Ciaravolo
Oates, in a surprising twist of events, praised the CEO for his willingness to be open to criticism and honest about his thoughts online.
“It is impressive that Elon Musk allows critical commentary of himself on X. That is not usually a magnanimity of spirit commensurate with the extreme type of non-empathetic person.”
In particular, Oates was defending Musk from the assessment of a netizen that argued all billionaires had a tendency to become right-wing, and then drew a conclusion about their mental health.
“It is strange that billionaires usually become far right-wing politically. Power corrupts as Lord Acton wrote. They lose all empathy,” they wrote.
To which Oates replied arguing that were Musk a true psychopath, he wouldn’t be able to allow others to criticize him online.
“Miserable person.” Musk’s detractors took the chance to further criticize him
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