Employees at SpaceX were fired after writing a letter criticizing Elon Musk’s “behavior” and “values.”
Employees at SpaceX published an open letter denouncing CEO Elon Musk’s “public sphere behavior.” According to a report published by The New York Times on Friday, those employees are now unemployed.
Space X Employees were Fired Who wrote about Elon Musk’s “behavior” and “values.”
“Elon’s public behavior is a frequent cause of distraction and humiliation for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter stated. The letter was first obtained by The Verge.
“Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX as our CEO and most visible spokesperson – every tweet Elon writes is a de facto public statement by the company.”
“It is vital to make clear to our teams and potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, mission, or values,” the employees added, urging SpaceX to “swiftly and openly disassociate itself from Elon’s personal brand.”
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According to the New York Times, those responsible for the Wednesday letter were fired by Thursday afternoon, based on three workers’ confirmation and an email from SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell.
“The letter, solicitations, and overall process made employees feel uneasy, intimidated, and bullied, and/or furious,” Shotwell said, “since the letter encouraged them to sign onto something that did not reflect their opinions.”
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“We have far too much important job to do, and we don’t need this kind of overreaching activity.”
Musk was accused by a flight attendant of exposing himself to her, caressing her, and proposing to purchase her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage several years ago.
Shotwell, in his letter to the firm, also refuted the charges.
“I believe the allegations are false,” Shotwell stated. “Not because I work for Elon, but because I have worked closely with him for 20 years and have never seen or heard anything matching these allegations.”
Musk made waves earlier this year when he said that he voted for Mayra Flores, a Mexican-American Republican congressional candidate who won a historically Democratic seat in southern Texas, after previously saying that he would vote Republican in the midterm elections.
Musk nodded to “DeSantis” when asked online who he was leaning toward supporting in the 2024 presidential election.
Other technology companies have been chastised by Musk for their radical liberalism. When Netflix’s stock dropped earlier this year, Musk blamed it on the “awake mind infection” and declared it to be “civilization’s greatest threat.”
Musk is also in the process of buying Twitter for $44 billion and privatizing it. In a Thursday meeting with Facebook staff, he said users should be able to publish “quite ridiculous stuff” since the platform favors “freedom of speech,” but not necessarily “freedom of reach.”
Musk has urged Silicon Valley — and the United States as a whole — to reconfirm their commitment to free speech on numerous occasions.
