BS BRIEF:
- Elon Musk traded insults Monday with celebrity chef José Andrés after the World Central Kitchen founder criticized Musk for calling The Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes “a traitor to the West.”
- The exchange followed Musk’s widely discussed interview with The Economist, where he defended his views on immigration and rejected accusations that he supports Europe’s “far right.”
ELON MUSK’S WAR OF WORDS WITH JOSÉ ANDRÉS
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk found himself trading insults with celebrity chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés after comments Musk made about The Economist’s editor touched off a fresh political battle online.
The controversy began after Rael Braverman, husband of former U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, criticized The Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes following her televised discussion of Musk’s recent interview.
Musk amplified the criticism with a post of his own.
“She is a traitor to the West, plain and simple.”
That caught the attention of Andrés, who sharply criticized Musk.
“Elon drink a glass of water before you tweet,” Andrés wrote. “You may build rockets and satellites and cars and anything else you want… but you can not call a great journalist… You sound and act like a tyrant… change!”
Musk’s response was characteristically brief.
“You’re an asshole.”
Within minutes, the exchange was ricocheting across X, drawing hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of reactions.
The dispute traces back to Musk’s recent interview with The Economist, where Beddoes challenged him over his support for anti-establishment political parties in Europe.
“You support not just the populist right, but the far right,” she told him.
Musk immediately rejected the label.
“No. I support the normal people. What you call the far right, falsely.”
The discussion later shifted to immigration and Europe’s demographic changes.
Beddoes argued that London remains safer than many American cities and suggested Musk was painting an exaggerated picture of Europe.
Musk pushed back.
“I haven’t said any of those things.”
He warned that rapidly growing populations with values fundamentally different from traditional Western norms could eventually create serious political and cultural conflict.
Predictably, reactions split along familiar ideological lines.
The exchange quickly became one of Monday’s most-discussed political conversations on X, adding another chapter to Musk’s increasingly public battles with legacy media organizations.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Mediaite — Elon Musk Spars With Famed Chef Who Called Him a ‘Tyrant’ For Attacking Journalist
- CNBC — Squawk Box interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes discussing Elon Musk interview
- X — Posts by Elon Musk, José Andrés and Rael Braverman regarding the exchange
- The Economist — Interview with Elon Musk on immigration, Europe and politics
