Olivia Wilde details meeting Elon Musk before he changed
Olivia Wilde says she met Elon Musk years ago “before he turned into this creature” and now deeply resents him. On The Louis Theroux Podcast, the actress-filmmaker recalled touring SpaceX when it opened in Los Angeles and said Musk once donated to a Haiti hospital project she supported. Her remarks, covered by Rolling Stone, tie that early meeting to a sharper critique of power, misogyny, and politics.
Key Takeaways
- Olivia Wilde told Louis Theroux she met Elon Musk “before he turned into this creature.”
- She said she “really deeply resent[s]” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO now.
- They crossed paths when SpaceX had just set up headquarters in Los Angeles.
- Musk showed interest in a Haiti charity she worked with that built hospitals and schools.
- She linked his “underpopulation” rhetoric to themes she sees as misogynistic.
What did Olivia Wilde say about meeting Elon Musk?
Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Olivia Wilde described an encounter from “many, many years ago,” when SpaceX had newly established its Los Angeles headquarters. She said she toured the facility because she “wanted to see the rocket ships.”
At the time, Musk was interested in donating to an organization she was part of in Haiti that was building hospitals and schools. “He was quite interested in donating money and, I believe he did donate a little bit of money, and that’s appreciated,” she said.
Still, she recalled being “kind of confused by him.” She added that she “never would’ve predicted that he would go the path that he’s gone now because he did seem really smart.”
Why does Olivia Wilde say she resents Elon Musk now?
Wilde’s tone shifted when she framed the present-day Musk against that earlier impression. “I met him before he turned into this creature. I really resent him now, I really deeply resent him,” she said. When Theroux joked about Musk as a friend, she corrected him: “He’s not our friend. Not my friend.”
She connected her resentment to a broader critique of what she called a misogynistic philosophy she believes has been “weaponized” in ways that helped elect Donald Trump twice. In discussing her 2022 film Don’t Worry Darling, she said Jordan Peterson inspired Chris Pine’s character and that she was disturbed by ideas casting men as “more powerful than nature.”
Wilde suggested Musk follows a similar mindset, citing his focus on an “underpopulation crisis” and claims the world could handle another billion people. She also said a past conversation between Musk and Peterson would leave listeners “really disturbed.” More celebrity breaking news often tracks how stars weigh in on culture and politics.
How does this fit with her new film The Invite?
Elsewhere in the same interview, Wilde discussed The Invite, the sex comedy she directed and stars in alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Tessa Thompson. She highlighted a scene in which Rogen’s character says, “You’re supposed to want me,” framing marital entitlement around desire.
“You married me, and that makes me feel entitled to you being attracted to me,” Wilde explained, asking whether that veers into “the manosphere incel conversation.” She argued unconditional love is familial, not something couples should demand “no matter what I do.”
Together, her Musk comments and film talk show Wilde using the podcast to revisit power, intimacy, and resentment—personal and cultural—without softening her view of how public figures have changed.