While Wall Street left investors reeling with the collapse of Tesla shares, Hollywood provided a moment of levity that didn’t please everyone. Comedian and host Jimmy Kimmel, known for his cutting humor, sparked an online storm after some scathing jokes about Elon Musk during his opening monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
The timing couldn’t have been more explosive: On the same day that Tesla saw its stock price drop more than 7%, Kimmel poked fun at Musk’s recent controversial statements, calling him “the Tony Stark who lost the password to common sense.”
The studio audience’s reaction was thunderous, but Musk’s, predictably, was not long in coming. On X (formerly Twitter), the billionaire responded piquedly: “It’s easy to be brilliant on TV when your career depends on scripts written by other people.”
Kimmel, far from being intimidated, replied with his usual irony: “Elon, if you want to come into the studio and explain the meaning of your 3 a.m. tweets, we’ll save you a chair.”
The incident has sparked a new debate between supporters of the right to satire and Musk’s fans, who are increasingly protective of the South African entrepreneur. Meanwhile, market analysts are carefully watching the performance of Tesla stock, worried not only about the numbers, but also about the impact of the CEO’s public image. If the stock market reflects investor confidence, Kimmel’s stage reflects the public mood. And right now, it seems that Elon Musk is losing points on both fronts.
