Elon Musk booed for nearly 5 minutes straight at Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco
Before welcoming Elon Musk on stage Sunday in San Francisco, Dave Chappelle encouraged his fans to “make some noise for the richest man in the world.”
And they did — by loudly booing the billionaire tech mogul for nearly five minutes straight.
Chappelle invited Musk to his stand-up show with Chris Rock at San Francisco’s Chase Center where the comedian told jeering audience members to “shut the f— up,” to no avail. The newly minted Twitter owner, who wore an “I Love Twitter” shirt to the event, also drew some cheers from the crowd at the end of the show.
“Cheers and boos, I see,” Chappelle can be heard saying in a video posted by @SteveGoffman on Twitter.
“Weren’t expecting this, were ya?” Musk said.
“It sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience,” Chappelle joked — referring to the wide swath of Twitter employees Musk laid off shortly after purchasing the social media platform.
Elon Musk’s track record as a boss is an endless scroll of impulse firings, retribution, tone-deafness on race — and the impregnation of a subordinate.
“Hey, wait a minute, those of you booing,” Chappelle continued in a failed attempt to quiet the crowd as Musk stood silently on stage in San Francisco, where the Twitter headquarters are located.
“Tough road ahead, it sounds like,” the comic relented. “But you know one thing? All those people who are booing — and I’m just pointing out the obvious — they have terrible seats, and I understand.
“Boooo! Listen, whatever. Look, motherf—, this n— is not even trying to die on Earth. His whole business model is, ‘F— Earth. I’m leaving anyway.’ Boo all you want. Bring me with you, [Musk] ... I’m going to Mars. Whatever kind of p— they got up there, that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Twitter employees, those who were laid off and those who remain, showed solidarity Friday after new owner Elon Musk axed nearly half the workforce.
Musk could only muster a short “Thanks for having me on stage,” as the booing persisted, while Chappelle proceeded to brag about riding jet packs and doing “baller s—” with the Tesla executive.
“Dave, what should I say?” Musk said about three and a half minutes into the boo-fest.
“Don’t say nothing,” Chappelle advised. “It’ll only spoil the moment. You hear that sound, Elon? That’s the sound of pending civil unrest. ... Booing is not the best thing you can do.”
Monday on Twitter, Musk claimed that crowd response was “90% cheers & 10% boos (except during quiet periods).”
“but, still, that’s a lot of boos, which is a first for me in real life (frequent on Twitter),” he added. “It’s almost as if I’ve offended SF’s unhinged leftists … but nahhh.”
Both Musk and Chappelle have come under scrutiny recently for their divisive behavior. The SpaceX founder has been heavily criticized for his turbulent Twitter takeover, while the stand-up has been denounced for making transphobic remarks in his 2021 Netflix special.
“I am your ally,” Chappelle told the San Francisco crowd after standing by Musk. “I wish everybody in this auditorium peace and the joy of feeling free. May your pursuit of happiness make you happy. Amen. Thank you very much, San Francisco. No city on Earth has ever been kinder ... Good night.”
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