On February 12, 2024, Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, caused quite a stir on X due to a cheeky joke directed at the entertainment powerhouse, Disney.
In a post that previously went viral on social media, a fake Musk account had announced that he wanted to buy Disneyland change its name to "Deeznuts" temporarily, and then close down the famous company.
This statement from Musk, along with the follow-up from his real account saying it should be "Deez Nuts" instead of Disney, has sparked a big debate. Everyone is choosing sides as Musk continues to take digs at Disney.
All about the Elon Musk joke on Disney, calling it 'Deez Nuts'
Musk's idea appeared to mix jokes and real intentions, making people wonder if the billionaire entrepreneur was serious or just playing around on social media again. This originated from a TikTok joke where one throws off a conversation by saying "deez nuts."
Musk's fiery tweet follows a bunch of clashes he had with Disney, including a public feud with Disney CEO Bob Iger over advertising boycotts. As per CNBC, adding to this feud, Musk even backed a lawsuit against Disney.
The New York Times reported that the lawsuit involves Gina Carano, who used to be a part of Star Wars. Things have now become even more complicated between Musk and Disney because of this development.
Netizens flooded X with reactions ranging from confusion to not fully believing it. Some users made funny comments to add to the original post.
In the meantime, a few people chimed in with funny comparisons, highlighting just how bizarre the whole situation is.
Some didn't see the joke as something tasteful and spoke out about how it may not be suitable for a CEO to make such comments about another big brand.
A history of developments in the Elon Musk vs. Disney saga
This recent attack from Elon Musk comes right after a series of clashes between the Tesla CEO and Disney. The feud between Elon Musk and Disney started in November 2023 after Disney stopped advertising on Musk's social media platform. As reported by Al Jazeera, it all kicked off when Musk backed an anti-Semitic tweet and a watchdog group accused the platform of running pro-Nazi content alongside ads from big companies.
Musk then claimed Iger was picking and choosing which social media platforms to advertise on. Musk's blunt criticism of Disney's advertising policies paved the way for more clashes between the two big companies. Fast forward to February 2024, Musk has gone a step further and thrown his support behind a high-profile lawsuit against Disney, causing a major stir in the entertainment world.
According to a report by Times Now, things escalated when Elon Musk shared a document he claimed was Disney's "General Entertainment Content Inclusion Standards," which outlined diversity requirements for Disney productions.
He even threw some cash behind a lawsuit filed by a fired Mandalorian actor against Disney and Lucasfilm, alleging bullying and wrongful termination. According to a report from Vulture in December 2023, Tesla said they would drop Disney+ for people who hadn't tried it yet.