Kanye West and Elon Musk are no strangers to making headlines, a lot of the time because of the controversial comments they make. But it is their unlikely friendship that is under the microscope this week, after Musk put his own reputation on the line and stepped up to show his support for West, after the disgraced rapper bought a conservative social media site.
Musk was later forced to delete a meme he had put together after mounting pressure from online fans who called him out in the wake of West's recent controversial outbursts. Here is how it played out and how the spotlight turned on BFFs (best friends forever) Musk and West - one of the most powerful bromances of our time.
- The Three Musketeers -
The drama began on Oct 18 when Musk shared a meme depicting himself, Kanye West and former United States president Donald Trump as the fictional Three Musketeers. This was apparently in relation to the three of them running separate social media websites.
It was recently announced that West would be acquiring the conservative social media site Parler, while Trump launched Twitter-alternative, Truth Social, in February this year. In August, Musk teased about creating his own social media site called X.com.
The billionaire soon deleted the tweet after widespread criticism of his support for West and Trump, both of whom have been slammed for their allegedly anti-Semitic remarks. West was booted from Twitter and Instagram after his recent posts sparked allegations of hate speech, and there have been growing calls for the industry to speak out and boycott him. Musk has not responded to questions on why he supported West's move, but the friendship between the pair is a decade-strong relationship.
- The sweet beginning -
In 2011 West was given a private tour of the SpaceX rocket factory by Musk. A vintage picture of the two went viral at the time. Referring to their friendship, which started in 2011, Musk called it a "hell of a decade" on Twitter.
In 2015, the SpaceX boss wrote the blurb for West inclusion in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People". In the bio, Musk referred to West as a "member of the cultural pantheon". He praised the musician for pushing boundaries and encouraging people to do the same.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2020
He said West was not afraid to be judged or critiqued, saying he has been playing "the long game all along" and fans are only now seeing the results.
- Declaration of love -
In 2018, Musk surprised guests at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, by taking part in a live Q&A; session. He was asked, "Everyone in this room is inspired by you, who are you inspired by?"
@ElonMusk says he's "obviously" inspired by Kanye West
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 11, 2018
His response was brief, but got everybody's attention: "Well, Kanye West obviously."
- Kanye's got Elon's back -
In the same year that Musk declared that he was inspired by West, the rapper also publicly showed his appreciation for the Tesla boss. In a number of tweets in April 2018, he thanked Musk for his Tesla, saying it was the "funnest car" he had ever driven.
I really love my Tesla. I'm in the future. Thank you Elon.
— ye (@kanyewest) April 23, 2018
Later that year, video footage on Twitter showed West standing on a desk at the Detroit College for Creative Studies and telling people to leave Musk alone. According to Newsweek, it was unclear what West was referring to. But musician Azealia Banks had two months prior accused Musk of taking drugs while she was at his house.
— josh (@j___k_h) Oct 2, 2018
In the clip, West was shouting "I don't give a f*** who's at his house. Leave that man the f*** alone." Musk later denied there were drugs at his house.
- VIP tours at SpaceX -
In 2021, Kano CEO Alex Klein posted images of Musk giving West another tour of SpaceX. Although details of the visit were not made public, the tour was hardly a surprise given their strong friendship over the years.