The employee tried to confirm the firing, which is relevant to his contract, privately with HR. After getting no response, he asked Elon about his employment a

The employee tried to confirm the firing, which is relevant to his contract, privately with HR. After getting no response, he asked Elon about his employment and contract status publicly as a last-ditch effort. Instead of answering the question, Elon tried to pivot into talking about the guy's work in order to save face publicly. That part of it is on Elon, not on the employee in question. Its incredible to me how people are burying the lede here to somehow rehabilitate Musk's disastrous response.