It’s not just about the Tweets. MCU star and progressive activist Mark Ruffalo is opening another front in his ongoing online free for all with Twitter CEO and multi-billionaire business magnate Elon Musk. And this time he’s coming after Musk’s most familiar brand, Tesla, and Musk’s alleged treatment of his workers.
Ruffalo has had several online dust-ups with the highly controversial Musk since the latter completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter and assumed the position of CEO. Ruffalo joined a chorus of prominent Twitter users who criticized Musk after the self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” re-tweeted a fake news article about Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Ruffalo has also criticized Musk’s declaration of political neutrality as hypocritical and false.
Ruffalo’s newest criticism focuses on Musk’s most vaunted business, Tesla, Inc., and its so-called “Gigafactory” located in Austin Texas. The tack may come as a surprise to those who are familiar with Ruffalo’s environmental activism and advocacy. Ruffalo has been a vocal supporter of the move toward electric vehicles and greener automotive options. But despite professing his love for his own Kia EV and his gratitude for Tesla’s innovation in the market, the actor still tweeted a Forbes article arguing that Musk’s high-profile antics at Twitter are hurting Tesla’s once dominant cachet.
Ruffalo’s initial tweet disparaged Teslas as “noisy and uncomfortable” but his second tweet pointed to a current lawsuit by gigafactory construction workers alleging massive labor violations including hazardous worksites and wage theft. Ruffalo quoted from the Fortune article he attached to the Tweet saying that Tesla had been accused of fostering a “toxic workplace” of “discrimination and harassment.”
At this time Ruffalo’s tweets have drawn a predictable set of responses from his supporters and detractors, but so far they appear to have escaped the notice of the Chief Twit himself, or at least if they have, he’s taking his time concocting a response.