Robert Downey Jr. is not holding back from his sentiments about Elon Musk, who has been likened to his Iron Man character, Tony Stark.
The actor, who has expressed his belief that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an essential component of his "DNA" and is set to return to the MCU in a new role following the on-screen death of his beloved superhero character, appears to have little regard for the Tesla and X owner. His political and social views have sparked controversy, notably after he suggested Americans "breed" without concern for childcare costs.
Nevertheless, in a recent podcast appearance, he responded diplomatically while criticizing Musk despite not being excessively excited about the comparison between his character and the mogul.
During his interview on On With Kara Swisher, he was questioned about Musk's desire to model himself after Stark, a millionaire industrialist who was one of the original members of the Avengers. Downey Jr. shared his thoughts and feelings over the matter at some point.
“I’ve only met him a few times; I just wish that he would control his behavior a little more,” he stated.
His statement was made after it was disclosed that Musk was the source of inspiration for specific aspects of the Tony Stark character, a combination of Musk's, Donald Trump's, and Steve Jobs' personas.
Nevertheless, the actor now acknowledges that the situation is more complicated than when he was a part of the character's inspiration, as Musk has been infamous for his involvement in politics and disseminating misinformation.
“This idea of ‘It’s all OK because we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me,” he stated.”You have to look at all that [Musk has] done that demonstrates why he’s valuable.”
“Nowadays separating the individual from their behavior is a tough thing to do because hell is other people–and that has been hijacked in this information age, to divide us rather than allow for discourse, debate, and dialogue,” he added.
The actor's comments have not been met with a response from Musk.
Upon returning to the franchise, Downey Jr. will play a character very different from the superhuman figure he had previously portrayed.
In the upcoming films "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," he is slated to play the role of the supervillain Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom.
Meanwhile, during his campaign for former President Donald Trump, Elon Musk is making a number of significant commitments, as per CNN. However, his track record in the business world raises doubts about his ability to deliver.
Musk and Trump have publicly discussed the possibility of a government job for Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk if Trump is elected president. Even though Musk and Trump have not disclosed any specifics, Musk has made a sarcastic reference to his future job as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE.
DOGE is the name of Musk's favorite meme and cryptocurrency. On Fox News the previous week, Trump stated that Musk might be appointed to the position of "Secretary of Cost-Cutting," another federal body that does not already exist.
If Musk were to chair some task force, he has vowed, both on the campaign trail and in an interview with Trump on August X, to make significant cutbacks to decrease wasteful expenditure that does not serve the American people. Perhaps he would use artificial intelligence to determine where the cuts should be made.
He has also stated that he would propose a significant reduction in the number of rules imposed by the government, which he has been complaining about for a long time. Musk has pledged a delicate touch, awarding enormous severance benefits to government workers who have been laid off while proposing an appraisal system that threatens layoffs to those who are wasteful.
Musk has either used or pledged to use every one of those strategies at his companies. However, the results of his past endeavors are inconsistent. Musk requested a comment, but he did not answer.
In his interview with Musk in August and subsequent public discussions about the possibility of Musk taking on a role in the government, President Trump lauded the CEO for his ruthlessness in implementing layoffs throughout the company, The New York Times reported.
Following Trump's comments that he would dismiss striking autoworkers and use the word "cutter" to describe Musk, the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) filed labor complaints against the two individuals in August. In September, Trump announced his intentions regarding Musk's potential role, stating that Musk would provide proposals for "drastic reforms."
When asked about what he may do for the government, Musk stated in a town hall meeting held in Pittsburgh on Sunday that significant reductions in the amount of money spent by the government would be required. Musk said, "The first step is to spend a lot less of it," and he was right. "Let's begin from the very beginning."
However, Musk's enterprises have not consistently successfully implemented cost reductions.
An estimated eighty percent of X's workforce has been reduced as a result of substantial layoffs implemented by Musk. That has led to a janky, unstable product, as evidenced by his disastrous technology failures when interviewing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and Trump a few months ago.
Additionally, Musk has removed X's trust and safety teams, which has increased hate speech, unregulated misinformation, and an exodus of advertisers from the site. According to Fidelity, the value of X is eighty percent lower than the amount that Musk paid for it in October of 2022.
Musk has been concerned about regulations for years, and he has been vocal about his disapproval of what he has referred to as "unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape."
Business leaders have been complaining about this for quite some time. Musk's attitude toward circumventing or bending rules, which has at times resulted in devastating outcomes, sets him apart from others.
At Tesla, Musk has ambitiously pushed forward in deploying “full self-driving” technology despite multiple accidents and government warnings and investigations. In a deploy-first-and-fix-it-later approach, Tesla has issued several recalls of the technology, though the company has maintained that automated driver software saves lives.
America’s top safety regulator on Friday announced yet another investigation into Tesla after a fatal accident involving a pedestrian hit by a car using Tesla’s full self-driving features. Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the technology has “led to an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety based on insufficient adherence to traffic safety laws.” It warned that FSD could violate traffic laws at some intersections “before some drivers may intervene.”
At SpaceX, skirting California government regulators has led to notoriously unhappy residents and lawsuits in a Texas town where the company set up shop to launch and test its massive rockets. Among the complaints are trespassing, broken windows, and large debris fields.
Due to the excessive regulation in California, Musk relocated a significant portion of SpaceX's operations to the state of Texas. A week ago, the business filed a lawsuit against a California regulator.
Musk suggested offering ousted government employees two years’ severance, according to the Wall Street Journal, which attended several of Musk’s rallies for Trump. “The point is not to be cruel or to have people not be able to pay the mortgage,” Musk said Friday.
But Musk at X was sued repeatedly for failing to honor his promise to honor laid-off employees’ severance packages—including the former CEO and other major executives, who were denied hundreds of millions of dollars in their exit packages.
Before Musk purchased Twitter — now X — in 2022, the company’s severance plan dictated that employees who remained after the acquisition and were subsequently fired would take home up to six months plus one week of pay each year they worked for the company. However, the lawsuits against Musk and the company claim the company refused that payout.
Musk won one such lawsuit earlier this year, but several remain active.
