"Tragic abomination": Elon Musk slams People magazine after it publishes piece about Tesla boss' upcoming documentary

On Monday, September 7, Elon Musk slammed People magazine after it ran a piece about an upcoming documentary on the Tesla boss. Musk responded to a post on X from a user who highlighted People magazine's coverage of the documentary. 'Does 'People's Magazine' actually still exist? I don't think it does. I literally haven't seen a copy lying around in over a decade! Must be that old magazines never die, they just become ghostly versions of themselves on social media, like the tragic abomination that is 'Wired,'' Musk wrote on X. ​ On Monday, People magazine shared a post on X announcing the documentary about Musk. 'New Elon Musk Documentary Calls the Trillionaire a 'Man Who Has Lost His Mind,'' the publication wrote in the post, which also included a link to watch the documentary's trailer. The post was later reposted by X user Captain Eli, prompting Musk's response. Elon Musk's documentary, Musk, is the brainchild of writer-director Alex Gibney. The documentary examines the billionaire entrepreneur and his growing influence across technology, business and politics. Gibney and Michael J. Palmer are credited as co-writers. Justine Musk, Musk's first ex-wife, is also set to appear in the documentary. Before its Tuesday, September 8 premiere at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, the nearly four-hour documentary released a new teaser trailer. According to People magazine's September 7 report, the trailer opened with a rocket taking off into space, accompanied by audio from news media outlets describing Musk in sharply contrasting ways. The voices referred to him as 'possibly the greatest living inventor' and 'the real-life Iron Man.' Some voices described him as 'chaotic,' 'random, capricious' and 'manifestly cruel and selfish.' The Toronto International Film Festival, which will premiere the documentary on September 14, described Musk as a film examining the enormous influence the billionaire had accumulated through his various ventures. The festival's online description read: 'Elon Musk has amassed so much power, he's like a character in a Marvel comic book…A short recap of his handiwork: Tesla popularized electric vehicles; Starlink expanded the reach of the internet; Twitter bowed to his takeover; and DOGE radically transformed the US government…Musk has been at the centre of AI development and this past summer…His influence arguably touches everyone on the planet. Surely this is worth fresh scrutiny.' Elon Musk and his mother weighed in on his documentary Previously, both Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, weighed in on the latest documentary about the Tesla CEO. On September 2, The Hollywood Reporter shared a post on X promoting its coverage of the upcoming documentary. 'Elon Musk is the richest man on earth. An explosive new film from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney suggests he may also be the most dangerous,' the post read. The post further highlighted the outlet's latest cover story, in which THR's Steven Zeitchik spoke with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney in the editing suite as he worked on Musk. During the discussion, Gibney spoke about Musk's growing influence and how he believed the billionaire had changed as he accumulated more power. 'As he accretes more power, he's no longer interested in checking his worst impulses…Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, 'He's the most miserable man I've ever met.' So he's inflicting his misery on everyone else,' Gibney said. Maye later reposted The Hollywood Reporter's report on X and wrote: 'This is weird @THR. Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, 'He's the most miserable man I've ever met.' I haven't seen him miserable, but that's just me. His mom.' Elon Musk then responded to his mother's post on September 3, offering his own account of how often he experiences different emotions. 'I'm happy about half the time, somewhere in the middle about 40% and sad about 10% of the time,' he wrote on X. Elon Musk's documentary, Musk, will be released in theaters on October 16.