Elon Musk slammed by Grimes' mother for 'Take the red pill' tweet: 'Blaring men's rights activism bulls***'
The mother of Elon Musk's girlfriend Grimes, Sandy Garossino, on Sunday, May 17, slammed the Tesla CEO in her tweets, accusing him of "blaring men's rights activist bulls***."
Garossino did not appear happy when Musk posted a cryptic message on Twitter on Sunday morning, saying "Take the red pill" accompanied with a red rose emoji. While Musk's intention behind the tweet is unclear, the phrase "take the red pill" -- first used in 1999 blockbuster 'The Matrix' -- has over the years gained traction in alt-right circles to signify right-wing political awakening and is used widely on online forums in support of President Donald Trump, as well as men's rights organizations.
Garossino, a Canadian media commentator, in a reference to Musk's newborn baby with her daughter Grimes, wrote: "If your partner went through a challenging pregnancy and childbirth in the last two weeks, and you were over 16 years old, would you be blaring MRA bulls*** on Twitter right now?"
She also tweeted a response to Canadian activist Gerald Butts who also appeared to denounce Musk by tweeting: "Buddy has a 3 week old baby. Maybe step away from the broflakes." Garossino responded, saying: "Not yet 2 weeks old." Musk and Grimes announced the birth of their baby, X Æ A-12, last week.
The tweets, however, were later deleted, according to the Daily Mail.
Garossino later retweeted a post condemning Musk for reopening his California factory, defying the coronavirus lockdown measures in place in the state.
According to Urban Dictionary, 'Red pill' has become "a popular phrase in cyberculture and signifies a free-thinking attitude, and a waking up from a 'normal' life of sloth and ignorance. Red pills prefer the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be." Alt-right leader, Richard Spencer, has posted several videos on the topic along with other personalities associated with the alt-right.
In Matrix, a character named Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) tells the protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves) that he has been living in a computer simulation. Neo is offered with a choice of taking a blue pill to go back to his life and forget about everything, or taking the red pill to learn the truth about the Matrix and his fake reality. "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes," Morpheus in the 1999 film says.
Recently the 'red pill' phrase has been used to describe a conversion to conservative values after formerly identifying with more liberal ideas. No wonder, Musk's tweet elicited a response from Trump's daughter Ivanka, who re-tweeted his comments and said: 'Taken!'.
This, however, didn't sit well with 'Matrix' co-creatore Lilly Wachowski, who denounced billionaire Musk and the president's daughter for quoting her movie.
Wachowski responded with: "F**k both of you." The 52-year-old director and producer then shared a link to the LGBTQ social service Brave Space Alliance, urging people drawn in by Musk's viral tweets to donate.