7 Public Figures Who Have Openly Criticized Elon Musk, In Their Own Words Over The Years In Public Spats

Elon Musk‘s high public profile as owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX has made him a frequent target of criticism from celebrities, authors and fellow business figures, many of whom have taken to social media to voice their objections directly to Musk or about his conduct. Here are seven public figures who have openly criticized Musk in recent years.

1. Stephen King. The bestselling horror author has repeatedly criticized Musk’s leadership of X since Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the platform, taking issue with a range of content policy decisions and political stances over time. King has continued using his own presence on social media to publicly push back on Musk’s positions, including commenting on Musk’s growing political influence following the 2024 presidential election. On the social media platform Bluesky, King suggested that Musk, rather than officials in elected office, held disproportionate sway over American politics at the time.
2. Mark Cuban. The billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner has used his own X account to challenge Musk directly on multiple occasions. After Musk once asked users to “please post a bit more positive, beautiful or informative content,” Cuban pushed back sharply, and separately responded to a post from Musk questioning critics’ mental state by writing, “From the man who said anything to get him elected,” a jab referencing Musk’s role backing Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. That post drew significant attention, garnering more than 1.9 million views.
3. Doja Cat. The Grammy-winning singer sparked a public dispute with Musk in June 2026 after posting a message on X asking him to restore a removed audio feature, paired with a pointed insult calling him a “frog build looking b****” and a “barrel chested Ewok.” Doja Cat had previously criticized X more broadly, describing the platform as “poison” and “a prison,” and had separately expressed concern over child privacy after Musk brought his young son to Oval Office events for political purposes.
4. Robyn. The Swedish pop singer has been direct and unambiguous in her criticism of Musk, telling interviewers she has held a negative view of him for years, predating the more recent wave of public criticism he has faced. “I always hated him, way before it was cool to hate him,” Robyn has said, distinguishing her longstanding skepticism of Musk from more recent critics who have turned against him only after his more overtly political activities in recent years.
5. Elton John. The legendary musician left X in protest of Musk’s leadership and content policies, walking away from an account with more than a million followers in the process. When Musk publicly asked John for specific examples justifying his departure, the singer did not respond and remained off the platform. John later took a more direct verbal jab at Musk during a public appearance at the 2024 Attitude Awards, delivering a pointed remark from the stage before largely declining to comment further on the tech mogul in the time since.
6. Joyce Carol Oates. The prolific novelist, known for works including “Blonde,” found herself in a heated public exchange with Musk in 2025 after he responded to one of her posts by calling it “demonstrably false.” Musk went further, labeling Oates a “lazy liar” and “an abuser of semicolons,” and joked that she would be “a real downer at parties.” Oates responded in kind, defending her original comments and offering her own critique of Musk’s broader influence, a back-and-forth that quickly drew attention from literary fans and social media users on both sides of the exchange.
7. Kara Swisher. The veteran technology journalist, who has covered Musk extensively throughout her career and authored the book “Burn Book,” publicly reacted to the dramatic public falling-out between Musk and President Trump, which unfolded in real time on social media in mid-2025 after Musk criticized Trump’s signature spending legislation. Swisher noted on Bluesky that she had anticipated the rupture between the two men, referencing an earlier CNN interview in which she had predicted the two prominent, strong-willed figures would eventually be unable to coexist as allies.

“Called it — there can be only one,” Swisher wrote at the time, linking back to her earlier prediction.

Beyond these seven figures, Musk’s public disputes have extended to a wide range of other prominent individuals over the years, including musicians Grimes and Billie Eilish, fellow billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and, most notably, President Trump himself, whose alliance with Musk collapsed publicly in June 2025 following disagreements over federal spending legislation and Musk’s departure from his brief role leading the Department of Government Efficiency. That falling-out prompted commentary from numerous entertainment and political figures, including “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, who described the public back-and-forth between Musk and Trump as resembling behavior more typical of adolescents than of a sitting president and the world’s wealthiest businessman.

Musk’s willingness to respond directly and often pointedly to public criticism, frequently escalating rather than de-escalating disputes with those who challenge him, has become a recurring feature of his presence on X, the platform he owns and where the majority of these public exchanges have played out. Neither Musk nor representatives for his companies have publicly indicated any change in that approach, and public disputes involving Musk and various celebrities, authors, journalists and political figures have continued to emerge regularly in the years since his 2022 acquisition of Twitter and its subsequent rebranding as X.