[vgoh1]

We need to stop this culture of taking single sentences and vilifying people over them. People get tired, they get mad, temporarily confused, and can be good people 95% of the time, and a bit of a jerk other times. But the internet never forgets, so we as a people need to learn to forgive a bit more.

[Lazare]

I agree with you very, very strongly. However...

...I don't think that applies to Musk. This isn't the case of someone making an ill-considered tweet and getting eviscerated; this is about dozens and dozens of tweets, lawsuits, and interviews. Even so, if Musk took responsibility and said he was going to change, I'd certainly say we should give him every opportunity to do so. But to state the obvious, that hasn't happened.

[ethbro]

As much as he's an amazing engineer, it's demonstrably obvious by this point that Musk has severe social issues.

But then, so do a lot of us. We just aren't in the media spotlight.

On the flip side, it's indicative that the company Musk is more closely running is experiencing high turnover at senior levels. While the one he's not as involved with isn't.

[Barrin92]

accusing specific individuals of sexually abusing children isn't some mild misstep, it can ruin the lives of people and in a fair world their would be significant legal repercussions for billionaires who think they can drag someone through the mud on twitter, where Musk has millions of rabid followers. The idea that Musk is the victim in this reminds me of that "affluenza" case with the drunk rich kid years ago.

There are a lot of high profile CEOs and executives who have very stressful jobs, Musk isn't alone in this. The overwhelming majority of them manage to behave in completely sane, professional manner.

I assume Nadella and Pichai and Bezos all have a lot of work on their calendar, curiously enough they don't go on rants on twitter.

[josefx]

It wasn't a single sentence on a single occasion, he doubled down on the accusations repeatedly. He went as far as saying something along the lines "why do you think he hasn't sued me?" He got his lawsuit.

[krapp]

95% of people aren't billionaires whose social media presence is followed globally and whose every public comment is repeated by the media, and 95% of people don't accuse someone else of being a pedophile because they're tired or mad or "momentarily confused."

Like it or not, we live in a society in which words have social and occasionally legal ramifications. Elon Musk trying to ruin someone's life for bruising his ego isn't something society should shrug off and forgive simply because "people aren't perfect."

[maxheadroom]

>...isn't something society should shrug off and forgive simply because "people aren't perfect."

...but isn't the recourse that society has agreed-upon the very same lawsuit that is going on? Is this not adequate? Wouldn't it be more "woke" to fix the aforementioned avenue of recourse, if not?

[gamblor956]

The pedo thing wasn't a single sentence. It was something Elon doubled down on. And repeated. Many times. He deserves to be vilified for trying to abuse his wealth to destroy a critic who was correct about his grandstanding during a crisis where people's lives were at stake.

[kentm]

It's a pattern with Elon. He found out Twitter critic's identity and called up their boss to try to get the guy fired. There's pretty credible allegations that he retaliates against whistleblowers as well.

Elon Musk is not a nice guy that has temporary blowups. He's vindictive.