Olivia Wilde Rebukes Elon Musk Over Ideological Shift

The filmmaker recalled meeting Musk years ago at the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles. At the time, she was working with a nonprofit building hospitals and schools in Haiti, and Musk expressed interest in supporting the effort. While he provided a modest donation, Wilde admitted she left that initial encounter feeling confused by his personality, despite his apparent intelligence. She noted that she never could have predicted the trajectory his public persona would take.

During the conversation on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Wilde argued that Musk has evolved into a figure who actively amplifies harmful ideologies. She specifically pointed to his vocal warnings about falling birth rates, characterizing them as part of a worldview fixated on control. According to Wilde, such rhetoric aligns with the "manosphere" and broader movements that seek to exert influence over gender roles and social structures. The discussion also touched on her previous criticism of psychologist Jordan Peterson, whom she had once labeled a "pseudo-intellectual." While she conceded the term might have been unfair, she maintained that Peterson’s philosophies serve as a gateway to more extreme, misogyny-rooted viewpoints in contemporary politics.