Olivia Wilde admits she’s not the biggest fan of Elon Musk.
The actress and filmmaker spoke about her negative feelings toward the billionaire Tesla CEO on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast.
During the podcast, Wilde discussed conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, whom she cited as an inspiration for Chris Pine’s character in 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling, and whether it was “unfair” to criticize Peterson as a “pseudo-intellecutal hero to the incel community.”
“I was disturbed by what I saw as this kind of misogynistic philosophy that was being obviously weaponized in a way that was leading us to, you know, elect Donald Trump twice,” Wilde said.
She connected this philosophy to the themes in her film, noting that such figures believe men are more powerful than nature and that everything should be “manmade.” She also pointed out that Musk aligns with this way of thinking and specifically cited his claims that the world is underpopulated and “could handle another billion people.”
"I met him before he turned into this creature. I really resent him now, I really deeply resent him,” she said. “I met him many, many years ago. I think SpaceX had just built their headquarters in L.A, and I got to go on a tour because I wanted to see the rocket ships. And he was interested in donating money to an organization that I was a part of in Haiti that was building hospitals and schools, and he was quite interested in donating money.”
Wilde continued, “I believe he did donate a little bit of money, and that's appreciated. But I was kind of confused by him. I never would've predicted that he would go the path that he's gone now because he did seem really smart.”
When Theroux jokingly referred to Musk as a friend, Wilde quickly corrected him, saying, "He's not our friend. Not my friend.”
She also suggested that listening to a past conversation between Musk and controversial commentator Peterson would leave listeners "really disturbed.”
Wilde’s conversation with Theroux also focused on her latest project, The Invite, which she both directed and stars in alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Tessa Thompson.
The film sees two couples at a dinner party with themes around intimacy and connection. Wilde recalled a scene of dialogue between her character and Seth Rogen as they argue about who’s to blame for the lack of sex in their marriage.
“He says, ‘You're supposed to want me,’” Wilde explained. “And it's very sad, and I think that people are familiar with that feeling. You're supposed to want me. You married me, and that makes me feel entitled to you being attracted to me. I mean, woah, does that veer into the manosphere, incel conversation?”
Wilde shared that instead, she believes that unconditional love isn’t a given in relationships.
“There is a frustrated sense of like, ‘You should love me. Just hold me and want me no matter what I do,’” she explained. “But that is a familial thing, it is not something that should exist between couples.”
