POLITICO
How the Internet Turned on Elon Musk
An unlikely, polarizing SNL hosting stint for the mogul reveals the boundaries and tensions of our ever-present culture wars.
POLITICO illustration/Photos by Getty Images, NBC
By DEREK ROBERTSON
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Derek Robertson is the digital editor for Indianapolis Monthly. Follow him on Twitter @derek_j_rob.
When NBC first announced that the billionaire car-tech-space mogul Elon Musk would serve as guest host for this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” the backlash was swift. Musk has graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Time; he’s voiced himself on several episodes of “South Park,” the long-running animated series that shares his irascible, libertarian-minded sensibilities; he’s inspired one of the most ubiquitous icons of our young century’s popular culture. But hosting “SNL”? Simply unacceptable.