5 ms·

Musk backpedals after mocking disabled Twitter worker in tweet ‘storm’

34 points by prawn 4y ago

IndoorPatio 4y ago
Too late. Not making a mistake is always better than correcting one.
brucethemoose2 4y ago
All this is just emblematic of whats so unpleasant about Twitter, even if it wasn't an exchange between Twitter's CEO and a ambiguously ex employee.
- prawn 4y ago
  Needlessly unpleasant. It appears that his intention is for it to exist in his image. Outrage and insult and misinformation. Instead of just replying to the employee's email!
lbwtaylor 4y ago
Even after everything I've seen before I still find Musk's casual cruelty shocking. Halli didn't say he was a good employee deserving of staying, he just asked if he was fired and politely answered Musk's questions. For no apparent reason Musk treats him like he's a joke and not a real person. And that continues even after Musk understands he is disabled.
- phs318u 4y ago
  I’ve said this before about Rupert Murdoch, and I’ll say it about Elon Musk - he’s a ruthless arsehole. This is not to say they aren’t highly intelligent, but that intelligence is not at all influenced by any kind of empathy whatsoever. They can, if required, perform a perfectly serviceable simulacrum of a reasonable person, for short periods of time, but they fact they believe they are the smartest people in any room, coupled with the fact they don’t believe they are subject to the rules (moral, ethical or even legal) that the rest of us are, means any such simulacrum will be short lived and they revel in revealing themselves, caring not one iota how they are perceived by others. They are not part of society. They believe they sit outside of it.
  - mmarq 4y ago
    What is intelligent about mocking a disable employee publicly and putting yourself at risk of a massive lawsuit?
    - phs318u 4y ago
      Has he made similar undeserved comments about other people and gotten away with it? Some people believe they can manage extreme risks. And every time he gets away with something like this he’s proven right. Do I think it’s an I intelligent move? No.
      - rsynnott 4y ago
        I mean, define "getting away with it". I think that cave diver thing, and a couple of other incidents, have pretty comprehensively destroyed his reputation amongst a lot of people who previous thought he was pretty much fine. (I do actually wonder if this latest obnoxious behaviour has done any significant damage, though; the previous stuff would already have turned decent people off him).
        hotpotamus 4y ago
        Donald Trump mocked a disabled person as a warm-up act in his presidential campaign. I used to think that sort of thing was disqualifying for leaders, but I'd say all the evidence would show that it is not.
        bongoman37 4y ago
        [dead]
        jacquesm 4y ago
        But: he did get away with it. And every time he gets away with it he sees that as confirmation that he should continue.
aurelius83 4y ago
Now that Elon apologized is it ok to ask why Twitter paid a design firm at least 100 million for an acquisition when presumably they already had a design department and team that was internal to Twitter?
- wmf 4y ago
  The internal team was crippled by ineffective executives, so they acquired a new team... that got crippled by the same executives. Also there's no evidence that it was $100M.
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    $100M, due on termination, which provides some color as to why the employee in question was asking Twitter HR to confirm their employment status. https://mas.to/@fsinn/109984180905588540 https://mas.to/@fsinn/109984180905588540 https://twitter.com/williamlegate/status/1633176820072816640 https://twitter.com/williamlegate/status/1633176820072816640
    - wmf 4y ago
      Sorry to repeat myself, but that tweet provides no evidence.
      - zimpenfish 4y ago
        Incredibly, a whole bunch of news sites are using that tweet as evidence, and other sites are then using those sites as evidence of evidence. e.g. [1] says "As per a buy-out clause included in the contract of Ueno’s acquisition" which links to [2] which, you've guessed it, links to that tweet as evidence of the $100m buyout / severance. (As far as I can find, Twitter never disclosed the terms of the Ueno acquisition and no-one else seems to have published them either. Hilariously LeGate later explains his numbers to someone asking by saying, basically, "I pulled them out of my arse". A true Muskian move.) [1] https://www.bosshunting.com.au/hustle/elon-musk-firing-halli-thorleifsson-twitter-100-million-mistake/ https://www.bosshunting.com.au/hustle/elon-musk-firing-halli... [2] https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/03/31250643/elon-musk-backtracks-says-disabled-man-he-fired-publicly-will-consider-staying-at-twitter https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/03/31250643/elon-musk-backt...
rsynnott 4y ago
Hmm, is this the first time he's apologised publicly for _anything_? I assume some PR person (being Musk's PR has to be the worst white-collar job in the world) finally got it through to him that even by his standards, this was a bit beyond the pale.
- rasz 4y ago
  Not PR person, lawyers with a copy of Halli contract. https://www.fastcompany.com/90591604/twitter-has-acquired-its-first-design-firm-ever-heres-why https://www.fastcompany.com/90591604/twitter-has-acquired-it... https://www.axios.com/2021/01/06/twitter-acquires-design-agency-ueno https://www.axios.com/2021/01/06/twitter-acquires-design-age... Apparently he sold his startup to Twitter with payment deferred as his own salary. Firing triggers payment in full.
  - encryptluks2 4y ago
    [dead]
- papito 4y ago
  He apologized for spreading despicable conspiracy theories about the attack on Pelosi's husband, but one would think he will stop being a cretin after walking into the same electric fence multiple times. A brainless life form learns quicker than this - even Russian soldiers.
Zigurd 4y ago
This got the headline right. The "apology" tweet is weak, conditional, and shifts blame to a nameless, faceless set of people who told him things. No word on whether these supposed blameworthy people who led Elon into an enormous liability still work at Twitter.

34 points by prawn 4y ago

Too late. Not making a mistake is always better than correcting one.

All this is just emblematic of whats so unpleasant about Twitter, even if it wasn't an exchange between Twitter's CEO and a ambiguously ex employee.

prawn 4y ago
Needlessly unpleasant. It appears that his intention is for it to exist in his image. Outrage and insult and misinformation. Instead of just replying to the employee's email!

lbwtaylor 4y ago

Even after everything I've seen before I still find Musk's casual cruelty shocking. Halli didn't say he was a good employee deserving of staying, he just asked if he was fired and politely answered Musk's questions. For no apparent reason Musk treats him like he's a joke and not a real person. And that continues even after Musk understands he is disabled.

phs318u 4y ago
I’ve said this before about Rupert Murdoch, and I’ll say it about Elon Musk - he’s a ruthless arsehole. This is not to say they aren’t highly intelligent, but that intelligence is not at all influenced by any kind of empathy whatsoever. They can, if required, perform a perfectly serviceable simulacrum of a reasonable person, for short periods of time, but they fact they believe they are the smartest people in any room, coupled with the fact they don’t believe they are subject to the rules (moral, ethical or even legal) that the rest of us are, means any such simulacrum will be short lived and they revel in revealing themselves, caring not one iota how they are perceived by others. They are not part of society. They believe they sit outside of it.
- mmarq 4y ago
  What is intelligent about mocking a disable employee publicly and putting yourself at risk of a massive lawsuit?
  - phs318u 4y ago
    Has he made similar undeserved comments about other people and gotten away with it? Some people believe they can manage extreme risks. And every time he gets away with something like this he’s proven right. Do I think it’s an I intelligent move? No.
    - rsynnott 4y ago
      I mean, define "getting away with it". I think that cave diver thing, and a couple of other incidents, have pretty comprehensively destroyed his reputation amongst a lot of people who previous thought he was pretty much fine. (I do actually wonder if this latest obnoxious behaviour has done any significant damage, though; the previous stuff would already have turned decent people off him).
      - hotpotamus 4y ago
        Donald Trump mocked a disabled person as a warm-up act in his presidential campaign. I used to think that sort of thing was disqualifying for leaders, but I'd say all the evidence would show that it is not.
        bongoman37 4y ago
        [dead]
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        But: he did get away with it. And every time he gets away with it he sees that as confirmation that he should continue.

aurelius83 4y ago

Now that Elon apologized is it ok to ask why Twitter paid a design firm at least 100 million for an acquisition when presumably they already had a design department and team that was internal to Twitter?

wmf 4y ago
The internal team was crippled by ineffective executives, so they acquired a new team... that got crippled by the same executives. Also there's no evidence that it was $100M.
- toomuchtodo 4y ago
  $100M, due on termination, which provides some color as to why the employee in question was asking Twitter HR to confirm their employment status. https://mas.to/@fsinn/109984180905588540 https://mas.to/@fsinn/109984180905588540 https://twitter.com/williamlegate/status/1633176820072816640 https://twitter.com/williamlegate/status/1633176820072816640
  - wmf 4y ago
    Sorry to repeat myself, but that tweet provides no evidence.
    - zimpenfish 4y ago
      Incredibly, a whole bunch of news sites are using that tweet as evidence, and other sites are then using those sites as evidence of evidence. e.g. [1] says "As per a buy-out clause included in the contract of Ueno’s acquisition" which links to [2] which, you've guessed it, links to that tweet as evidence of the $100m buyout / severance. (As far as I can find, Twitter never disclosed the terms of the Ueno acquisition and no-one else seems to have published them either. Hilariously LeGate later explains his numbers to someone asking by saying, basically, "I pulled them out of my arse". A true Muskian move.) [1] https://www.bosshunting.com.au/hustle/elon-musk-firing-halli-thorleifsson-twitter-100-million-mistake/ https://www.bosshunting.com.au/hustle/elon-musk-firing-halli... [2] https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/03/31250643/elon-musk-backtracks-says-disabled-man-he-fired-publicly-will-consider-staying-at-twitter https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/03/31250643/elon-musk-backt...

rsynnott 4y ago

Hmm, is this the first time he's apologised publicly for _anything_? I assume some PR person (being Musk's PR has to be the worst white-collar job in the world) finally got it through to him that even by his standards, this was a bit beyond the pale.

rasz 4y ago
Not PR person, lawyers with a copy of Halli contract. https://www.fastcompany.com/90591604/twitter-has-acquired-its-first-design-firm-ever-heres-why https://www.fastcompany.com/90591604/twitter-has-acquired-it... https://www.axios.com/2021/01/06/twitter-acquires-design-agency-ueno https://www.axios.com/2021/01/06/twitter-acquires-design-age... Apparently he sold his startup to Twitter with payment deferred as his own salary. Firing triggers payment in full.
- encryptluks2 4y ago
  [dead]
papito 4y ago
He apologized for spreading despicable conspiracy theories about the attack on Pelosi's husband, but one would think he will stop being a cretin after walking into the same electric fence multiple times. A brainless life form learns quicker than this - even Russian soldiers.

Zigurd 4y ago

This got the headline right. The "apology" tweet is weak, conditional, and shifts blame to a nameless, faceless set of people who told him things. No word on whether these supposed blameworthy people who led Elon into an enormous liability still work at Twitter.