Twitter's new owner wasn't met with a warm reception when he appeared as a surprise guest on stage at a Dave Chappelle comedy show. In San Francisco on Sunday, Chappelle told the people in attendance that he had a surprise for them, asking the crowd to "make some noise for the richest man in the world." Elon Musk then emerged, and while the audience did indeed make a lot of noise, it wasn't the kind that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had been hoping for.As seen in video footage that has been going viral on social media, the crowd showered Musk with relentless boos. Holding onto a microphone, Musk appeared to be waiting for the boos to stop, but it goes on for several minutes. Chappelle even takes the opportunity to crack a joke about the reaction, telling Musk that it "sounds like some of them people you fired are in the audience."Musk thanks Chappelle for having him on stage, and winds up asking the comedian for assistance, asking what he "should say" with the audience continuing to boo. At one point, Chappelle encouraged Musk to paraphrase the Rick James quote from Chappelle's Show by yelling, "I'm rich, b*tch!" For what it's worth, while Musk appears to be a bit flustered, Chappelle takes it all in stride, clearly no stranger to controversy.
Elon Musk Isn't the World's Most Beloved Billionaire
Musk has been leveled with plenty controversy, and that's something he has in common with Chappelle. The joke about the people Musk fired was in reference to the major job cuts that came after acquiring Twitter. More recently, he was back at it with his public criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci with a post on Twitter. The tweet simultaneously poked fun at pronouns as it read, "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci." As someone who seems to enjoy rocking the boat intentionally online, along with his other various controversies, perhaps it should be no surprise that Musk isn't the most well-liked individual among the public.
Musk has previously shown an interest in performing in front of a crowd, as he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2021. At the time, many SNL staff members had publicly expressed their displeasure in having Musk come onto the show in that capacity. The billionaire had also appeared on The Big Bang Theory and lent his voice to Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, and South Park.