Elon Musk blasts Ben Stiller with shock slur after actor said 'woke' Hollywood is killing 'edgier' comedy
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Elon Musk has blasted Ben Stiller and even used one of his own slurs from the film Tropic Thunder on the actor for expressing doubts that the movie would have been greenlit in today's woke climate.
The Tesla billionaire - who has been named as co-head of Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - took to his own X platform to have a shot at the 58-year-old comedic actor.
Elon reposted an X user's screenshot of a DailyMail.com story about Stiller with the headline 'Ben Stiller says woke America killed "edgier" comedy' along a photo of one of Ben's characters in Tropic Thunder named Simple Jack.
The user captioned it: 'Says this..... Endorsed Kamala....'
Elon referenced the 2008 film by captioning the repost: 'Damn he went full re***d [two laughing rolling on the floor while crying emojis]'
In the film, Stiller's 'Simple Jack' character was a mentally challenged farm boy who can talk to animals.
Elon Musk (pictured in Beverly Hills back in May) has blasted Ben Stiller and even used a shock slur from the film Tropic Thunder after the actor expressed doubts that the movie would have been greenlit in today's woke climate.
The 53-year-old Tesla boss - who has been named as co-head of Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - took to his X (formally Twitter) platform to take a shot at the 58-year-old comedy actor using the r-word
The controversy began when Stiller, who directed and starred in the now-controversial comedy/action film, said 'edgier' comedy is 'just harder to do' now in an interview with Collider.
When asked if a film like Tropic Thunder — which has since been labelled as racially offensive — could be made in the current environment, he replied, 'I doubt it.'
He added: '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.'
Stiller then referenced Robert Downey Jr.'s 'dicey' role in the movie, which has been criticized for its use of 'blackface.'
Downey Jr.'s character undergoes a fictional procedure called 'pigmentation alteration' to portray a Black soldier in a film.
'The idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,' Stiller said.
'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.'
Ben's Simple Jack character from the 2008 comedy film was a mentally challenged farm boy who can talk to animals
Meanwhile, the controversy began when Ben, who directed and starred in the now-controversial comedy/action film, said 'edgier' comedy is 'just harder to do' now, in a new interview with Collider; he is pictured November 10 in West Hollywood
The actor, who directed and starred in the now-controversial 2008 film, said 'edgier' comedy is 'just harder to do' in this environment, in a new interview with Collider; seen in a still
'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 staunchly defended Tropic Thunder — which also starred Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey — and insisted he's 'proud' of the hit film after it was slammed by woke mob for Downey Jr.'s 'blackface.'
He denied issuing an apology on behalf of his hit comedy after it was targeted by woke millennials for perceived racist undertones and offensive depictions of the disabled.
The Stiller directed film about a group of hapless actors who are forced to fend for themselves after getting lost while filming a war movie on location in Vietnamese jungle was a global hit following its release in 2008.
However, it recent years it's been considered racially insensitive in parts due to Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who surgically darkens the pigment of his skin to play an African-American soldier.
Stiller defended the film in a post on X (formerly Twitter) and insisted he has never apologized for his decision to develop the film from an original screenplay co-written by the actor and Justin Theroux.
His admission was a response to one of numerous posts issued in defense of the film.
'@BenStiller Please stop apologizing for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF... Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE.
When asked if a film like that — which has since been labelled racially offensive — could be made now, he replied, 'I doubt it'
He then referenced Robert Downey Jr.'s 'dicey' role in the movie, which has been criticized for its use of 'blackface'; Stiller pictured in a still with Donwey Jr.
'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,' Stiller stated; Downey Jr. pictured in a still
'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,' he added
'Ya'll [sic] can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else,' the post read.
In response, Stiller tweeted: '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 everyone did on it.'
A second social media follower drew attention to an historic tweet from actor, posted in response to a lighthearted claim that Tropic Thunder should be banned after US snowboarder Shaun White dressed as Simple Jack, a disabled character in the film, for Halloween in 2018.
Commenting at the time, Stiller wrote: 'Actually Tropic Thunder was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologized then.'
'It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards. I stand by my apology, the movie, Shaun White, And the great people and work of the @SpecialOlympics.'
Following its release the film sparked a coalition of more than 20 disability advocacy groups, among them the Special Olympics, to protest against its liberal use of the word "retard."
More recently Downey Jr. has been targeted by woke millennials for his role as a white actor portraying a black character, despite the self-aware nature of Stiller's script and his decision to seek approval from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) before it as released.
The Stiller directed film about a group of hapless actors who are forced to fend for themselves after getting lost in Vietnamese jungle was a hit following its release in 2008
Last year, Stiller staunchly defended Tropic Thunder — which also starred Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey — and insisted he's 'proud' of the film
A second social media follower drew attention to an historic tweet from actor, posted in response to a lighthearted claim that Tropic Thunder should be banned
His admission was a response to one of numerous posts issued in defense of the film
Discussing the film in 2020, Downey Jr. admitted he had his own reservations about taking the role, which ultimately won him a 2009 Oscar nomination, before having a change of heart.
'I thought: "Yeah, I’ll do that. I’ll do that after Iron Man,"' he told The Joe Rogan Experience. 'And then I started thinking, "This is a terrible idea."
'I thought: "Hold on, dude. Get real here. Where is your heart?" My heart is a) I get to be black for a summer in my mind, so there’s something in it for me.
'The other thing is I get to hold up to nature the insane, self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they’re allowed to do on occasion.'
