Elon Musk slammed Ben Stiller after the Emmy winner shared his doubts about the possibility of “Tropic Thunder” being made in 2024.
“Damn he went full r—d 🤣🤣,” the Tesla CEO captioned a repost of a fan’s post on X also slamming Stiller for his comments on Wednesday.
The screenshot Musk shared featured the Daily Mail’s headline that read “Ben Stiller says woke America killed ‘edgier’ comedy,” alongside an image of the 58-year-old in the 2008 film.
Musk — who has recently been spending time with president-elect Donald Trump — also shared a clip from “Tropic Thunder” to X in which Stiller and Robert Downey Jr.’s characters use the R-word during a discussion.
In the scene from the film, Stiller’s character explains how he feels “r—d” while acting as his other character, Jack.
Downey’s character then advises his friend to “never go full r—d” after he had already “went full r—d.”
Musk’s posts come after Stiller spoke to Collider on Wednesday and shared that making the film was a “dicey” move.
“I doubt it,” the “Zoolander” star said of making the film in today’s climate. “Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do.”
“Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.”
Stiller then credited director Steven Spielberg for being a key component in getting the film made 16 years ago.
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“I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks,” he continued.
“He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let’s make this thing.’ It’s a very inside movie when you think about it.”
The father of two then addressed Downey’s character using blackface in the film, which caused backlash at the time.
“But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,” Stiller said. “Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.”
Stiller concluded his comments on “Tropic Thunder” by explaining the primary reason he chose to take on the project.
“The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards,” he said.
“But now, in this environment, I don’t even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I’m being honest.”
Stiller has not yet responded to Musk’s post on X. His rep also didn’t immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
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