It was the casting choice that sparked countless online meltdowns. Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong'o has been confirmed to play Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Almost immediately, the usual voices began lamenting that the fall of Western civilization was imminent.
The World's Richest Man Weighs In
Elon Musk, a man with perhaps the thinnest skin and the largest bank account on the planet, is among those aggrieved. Musk began complaining about The Odyssey back in January, when rumours first emerged about Nyong'o's casting. Since the official confirmation in a 12 May interview with Nolan in Time magazine, Musk has relentlessly attacked Nyong'o on X, amplifying other angry bigots. His main arguments appear to be that this is a historically inaccurate rendering of a mythological poem, that Nyong'o—named People magazine's "Most Beautiful Woman" in 2014—is not sufficiently beautiful, and that casting a Black woman in a movie no one is forcing him to watch is part of a leftwing plot to undermine Western society.
Musk's Obsession with Race
Musk replied "true" to a post by conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who called Nolan a "coward" for not giving the role to a white woman. Walsh claimed, "Not one person on the planet actually thinks that Lupita Nyong'o is 'the most beautiful woman in the world.'" Musk also endorsed a post by the anonymous conservative account C3, which declared: "The destruction of the Odyssey by Nolan and the Left isn't just about a movie. It's about Western civilization. The Greeks were its foundation."
As Jimmy Kimmel joked, Helen of Troy was half bird—the daughter of Zeus, who disguised himself as a swan. "This is made up," Kimmel said. "So it makes no difference to anyone but crazy angry people what color she was."
A Sad and Bitter Man
Given Musk's many lawsuits, state trips to China, management of multiple companies, and scores of children, one might think he wouldn't have time for such nonsense. Yet increasingly, this is all he has time for. A Guardian analysis found that in January alone, Musk posted about the white race being under threat, race science, or anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days. Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told the Guardian that if Musk's name were stripped from those posts, she would think they came from a white supremacist.
Musk's apparent unhappiness is evident. He has bought himself a new head of hair and reinvented his wardrobe, but contentment eludes him. In 2021, he appeared on Saturday Night Live, making Wario jokes in a bid for popularity—to no avail. In 2022, he bought Twitter for $44bn and reportedly assembled a team of 80 engineers to tweak the algorithm to boost his tweets. Still unsatisfied, he spent over $290m helping elect Trump and other Republicans in 2024, seeing his net worth soar from $270bn to about $800bn. Yet happiness remains out of reach.
Online Bromance with a Fan Account
According to a Washington Post analysis, Musk has spent more time in 2026 interacting with an anonymous account called "XFreeze" than with any other user. The account, which appears to have ties to India, spends much of its time heaping praise on Musk—which the tech mogul adores. "Musk loves to be glazed, and this person is the doughnut factory," said Joan Donovan, assistant professor at Boston University.
It is tragic: Musk has all those children he could spend time with, yet he chooses to post about celebrities not being white enough and engage in an online bromance with an obsequious anonymous account. He may love to be glazed, but nothing is going to fill that gaping hole in his soul.
