Elon Musk slammed Mark Ruffalo in a tweet Saturday after the actor echoed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s sentiment that paying for Twitter doesn’t promote free speech.
The 54-year-old actor appeared to be in agreement with Ocasio-Cortez, who has been vocal about disagreeing with Musk’s proposed $8 a month fee to be verified and for other special features.
“Lmao at a billionaire earnestly attempting to sell people on the concept ‘free speech’ is definitely a $8/mo subscription plan,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote Wednesday.
Musk briefly replied: “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8.”
The following day, the Recent York Democrat accused Musk of blocking her account after she said something he disagreed with, noting: “What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me.”
The 54-year-old actor and activist then retweeted Ocasio-Cortez, writing: “Elon. Please—for the love of decency—get off Twitter, hand the keys over to someone who does this as an actual job, and get on with running Tesla and SpaceX.”
Ruffalo added: “You’re destroying your credibility. It’s just not an excellent look.”
Musk responded to Ruffalo Thursday, seeming guilty Ocasio-Cortez: “Hot take: not every thing AOC says is accurate.”
The “Hulk” actor was quick to answer Musk’s rebuttal, writing: “Perhaps so.”
“That’s why having robust filters for dis/misinformation & credible verified users has been a well-liked feature for people & advertisers alike. We want those safeguards to make sure that it’s accurate information, or the app loses credibility, as do you. And other people leave,” Ruffalo said.
The continuing spat between Musk and Ocasio-Cortez was reignited just days before Musk decided to put off half of Twitter’s workforce Friday. The now-private company was on target to lose $700 million in 2023 if Musk hadn’t made reductions.
