Twitter Has Hostile Reaction to Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge Trolling Elon Musk
As beloved as Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge is, he prompted a generally angry reaction from the twitterverse with a tweet trolling Twitter CEO Elon Musk. The short and biting tweet from DeLonge garnered a seemingly endless stream of mostly cranky responses from fans of Musk.
Some background: Thursday afternoon (Jan. 5) DeLonge quote-tweeted a message from Musk, which simply said "Hi, Tom!" Musk was NOT talking to Tom DeLonge, however. The "Hi Tom!" was for twitter user @lrocket, real name Tom Mueller, who is an aerospace engineer and designer of rocket engines. Mueller is currently the CEO of a company called Impulse Space but was formerly one of the initial employees at Space X, Musk's famed rocket outfit. Looks like Musk was just saying "yo" to a fellow rocket scientist and former co-worker.
Regardless, DeLonge co-opted the tweet, and replied to Musk, "What up, man. Wish you'd stop trying to make people like you."
The reaction to DeLonge's savage burn on the head of Twitter may have backfired. A bulk of the responses are a stout defense of Musk. Like, "(Musk) doesn’t have to try. He’s just likeable. You on the other hand seem to try super hard to get a niche market of people to like you." Or "Was he even referring to you though… hating on Elon trying to get people to like you… love the music maybe stick to that." Or "Tom love your music but go back to conspiracy stuff."
Another, sarcastic response, "Imagine loving the Tesla dude more than Tom DeLonge." One tweet takes aim at the high price of Blink-182 concert tickets, "With as much as your tickets cost, you’ll have almost as much money as Elon!"
Not all of the replies were pro-Musk, however. Peppered in to the thread: "ah another good tweet from tom thank u," "This is the best thing I have seen all day and I’m in wonderland!," and "Each passing day, I like Blink even more because of stuff like this."
You can read a mix of the tweets below. Blink fans take heed, some do get pretty heated at Tom.
DeLonge isn't the first rock star to come at Musk. A few simply left the platform when Elon took charge. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor accused Musk of carrying "the arrogance of the billionaire class." Jack White was livid at Musk for reinstating former president Donald Trump's Twitter account. Elton John said he will no longer use Twitter because of (Musk's) "change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked." Granted, most of these musicians voiced their displeasure on other forms of social media, avoiding a backlash. (Elton still has a Twitter account, though he dosen't seem to be tweeting anymore.)
So far, Musk hasn't responded to DeLonge's tweet. Check back here for any updates. And take a look at the reply thread below, if you dare. Ouch.
Twitter reaction to Tom DeLonge's Elon Musk Troll
19 Times Axl Rose Directly Called People Out on Twitter