Elon Musk has finally explained his "take the red pill" post, which caused a stir on social media in May and led one of The Matrix creators, Lilly Wachowski to drop an f-bomb on the tech maverick. The concept of taking a red pill in recent years has been associated with rejecting the ideas of the left and supporting a conservative agenda. Right after Musk posted the tweet, Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who serves as the president’s adviser, replied: "Taken!"
This led many to believe that Musk was endorsing Trump and triggered a barrage of aggressive comments from people on the left. Musk was even criticised by the mother of his girlfriend Grimes, although she thought that the entrepreneur was promoting men’s rights.
In an interview The New York Times posted on 25 July, Musk clarified his statement saying it didn’t contain a political message.
"No, it’s just: Accept reality as it is as opposed to what you wish it were", Musk said, adding that Ivanka Trump had interpreted his post "through more of a political lens than it was intended".
In the interview, Musk also touched on the ongoing court battle between Hollywood star Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard, who dated Musk after she divorced the Pirates of the Caribbean star. Depp and his legal team have long claimed that Heard had an affair with Musk when she was still married to the actor. "This is totally false", Musk said, rejecting the claim.
The 49-year-old also spoke about Kanye West’s decision to run for president, saying that he tried to convince the rapper to run in 2024 so that he wouldn’t be accused of splitting the Black vote with Democrat Joe Biden. Commenting on Kanye West’s perceived bizarre behaviour during a rally in South Carolina, which many thought was the result of mental issues, Musk said that it "sounds like things are, you know, not fine".