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Source: WADE VANDERVORT / Getty / Cybertruck
New details are emerging about the suspect behind a Tesla Cybertruck exploding in front of a Las Vegas Trump Hotel.
Local news affiliate ABC13 KTNV Las Vegas is sharing new details in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion that left one person dead (the suspect) and multiple people injured.
The news website reports that following federal search operations in Colorado Springs, the suspect behind the explosion rented Elon Musk’s latest monstrosity via the Turo app.
NEW: Video shows Tesla Cybertruck explosion at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. No word yet on the cause pic.twitter.com/tR9UabrsH4
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 1, 2025
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Investigators have identified the suspect as 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, who is linked to multiple addresses in Colorado Springs.
The FBI and ATF are currently searching one of Livelsberger’s townhome residences.
What’s raising eyebrows is the possible connection to the fatal Las Vegas attack that left 15 dead and as many as 30 people hurt.
ABC13 KTNV reports that Federal sources say the suspect in Las Vegas and the suspect behind the fatal attack in New Orleans were both in the military. Another connection is that they both use the Turo app to rent the vehicles used in separate incidents that could have been acts of domestic terrorism.
Social Media Reactions To The Cybertruck Explosion
The immediate reaction to Livelsberger allegedly turning the vehicle into a bomb filled with fireworks, camping fuel, and gas tanks was immediate.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk used the moment to highlight how the suspect chose the “wrong vehicle” as a bomb, praising his Cybertruck’s ability to contain an explosion, writing, “The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards.
Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken. https://t.co/9vj1JdcRZV
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2025
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One user pointed out that Phony Stark shouldn’t be so quick to glaze himself, alluding to the fact that the suspect’s poor bomb design, not the vehicle, prevented the explosion from worsening.
People are using the Las Vegas bombing to show the quality of the Cybertruck, when it reality it shows the quality of the explosive device that was used.
From the photo it looks to be poorly constructed and poorly thought out and that’s good for the people in the area. Thank… pic.twitter.com/cLcFYDwqyW
— Happy Captain (@EODHappyCaptain) January 2, 2025
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Another user pointed out a possible design flaw: the suspect couldn’t even get out of the vehicle. This hints at why Elon Musk and the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) are so eager to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The only person to die in the Cybertruck fire outside of Trump’s hotel in Vegas was the driver, who couldn’t escape. If I was the billionaire manufacturer behind it, I’d want to eliminate the US consumer protection bureau too. pic.twitter.com/6w6Jk1fzqQ
— Brandy Bryant 🏳️⚧️ (@InkMasterbator) January 1, 2025
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Other reactions point out that a Cybertruck exploding in front of a Trump hotel is a fitting way to start the year because of Musk’s involvement in the incoming Trump administration.
If this image isn’t setting the tone for 2025 I don’t know what is… pic.twitter.com/PAOBOGsdcd
— Travon Free (@Travon) January 1, 2025
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Welp.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Before they go blaming an undocument immigrant for the attack, peep his profile
2. Poetic indeed
3. Eyewitness accounts
4. Homebred terrorism at play?
5. America is cooked
6. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted to
7. 2025 is going to be a very interesting year
8.
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Source: Gabe Ginsberg / Getty / D&D
The iconic tabletop game D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) is valiantly attempting to attract a new generation of players by making it more inclusive. Still, as expected, some folks are not happy about that.
D&D has gone “woke,” according to some OG players after the iconic game’s first significant rule changes in a decade became law during its 50th anniversary.
Gone are “races,” and they have been replaced with the term “species.” Plus, character traits are no longer tied to biological identity; for example, “a mountain dwarf is no longer inherently brawny and durable, a high elf no longer intelligent and dexterous by definition,” as per The New York Times explanation.
Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, which Hasbro owns, is on board with the trend of role-playing games allowing players to stop playing if they begin to feel uncomfortable.
Elon Musk & Other Hardcore D&D Players Were Big Mad
As expected, some OG D&D players, including Elon Musk, feel the game is going the “woke” route. Musk responded to a post on his crappy platform X complaining about the Dungeons & Dragons 40th Anniversary Making of Dungeons & Dragons book’s foreword, claiming that it “slams the original creators and attempts to distance themselves” from sexism, cultural appropriation, and other problematic tropes from the 1970s.
“Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons,” Musk said. “What the f*** is wrong with Hasbro and WOTC?? May they burn in hell.”
Jason Tondro, a project lead for D&D, was part of the backlash against Musk’s comments about changes made considering progressives and underrepresented groups.
Musk then responded as any spoiled billionaire would by asking, “How much is Hasbro?”
If the folks at Hasbro have been paying attention to how Phony Stark is running Twitter—oops, we mean X—since he reluctantly acquired it, they wouldn’t let him get his greasy hands on the company.
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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been vocal proponents of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump and their proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) office along with their stances on H-1B visas. After feeling the wrath of the MAGA faithful, Elon Musk shifted his tone while Donald Trump showed support for the visa program for foreign workers which has angered the many figures within the GOP and the wider base.
On Christmas Day, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy made their case for the support of H-1B visas with the suggestion that the program allows business leaders to find the best engineering minds possible. Ramaswamy found himself in the thick of it when he casually suggested that Americans and the media they consume might be contributing to their lack of engineering or intellectual excellence. Musk, a recipient of an H-1B visa himself, likened the recruitment of the foreign workforce to selecting the best players of the NBA, which too has several foreign-born players who are near the top of their class.
Over the weekend, Trump joined the fray and expressed his approval of the aforementioned visa program.
“I’ve always liked the (H1-B) visas, I have always been in favor of the visas, that’s why we have them,” Trump said in an interview with the New York Post. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”
This comment from Trump was an exaggeration of facts as reports came forth that many Trump staffers who work at his properties on visas did so through the H-2B visa program, which gives companies the ability to recruit foreign workers for temporary jobs such as hospitality work. According to a CNN report, Trump last used the H-1B visa program in 2022 in order to hire a data analyst for the Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.
This has sparked right-wing infighting with key figures such as former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer aiming at both Trump and Musk for walking back the campaign promises of the so-called America First agenda that focused on mass deportation and the hiring of more American workers at some of the top companies.
Elonn Musk has been defiant in his unique way and issued a profane reply on X towards Christian conservative Steven Mackey, who criticized Musk’s endorsement of the H-1B visa program.
“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F*CK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” Trump wrote to Mackey.
The Tesla founder has since softened his rhetoric, writing on his X platform, “Please post a bit more positive, beautiful or informative content on this platform” which garnered several passionate and colorful responses. This also sparked a still unproven rumor that Musk is using X under the “Adrian Dittman” alias.
We’ve got X comments regarding Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, H-1B visas, and the MAGA kerfuffle below.
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Photo: Getty
Grimes is setting the record straight about her breakup with Elon Musk after Azealia Banks claimed that the billionaire “dumped” the “Oblivion” artist.
The interaction was sparked by, of all things, a misunderstanding over a piece of AI-generated Wicked artwork that portrayed Grimes as Glinda and Banks as Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West. When the Canadian musician jokingly tweeted that the casting “wouldve been kinda lit,” the New York rapper wasn’t happy.
“girl the way u are still trying to hold out on some weird a– innocent bulls–t years later after u got dumped, cheated on …,” Banks wrote on X Thursday (Dec. 26). “and still trying to paint me like the villian and act like ur above me … U can really quit mentioning me. I know you wish you could be my bestie but b—h….. it’s f–king boring as hell.”
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Grimes quickly responded, telling Banks, “It’s just a funny joke bro. not trying to paint u as a villain.”
“i didn’t ‘get dumped,’” the Elf Tech founder continued of her split from Musk, with whom she shares three children. “I bounced. My amazing baby is asleep in my bed beside me, I’m in love. no regrets. Life is as beautiful as u want it to be.”
“Ur insanely talented,” Grimes added. “even after all this, I want u to win. god bless Mlady.”
Later, the singer conceded that Banks is “the best hater on the planet” in a response to a fan. “The da Vinci of insults,” she added jokingly. “At a point I just gave up and accepted that I appreciate the madness of existence.”
Grimes and the Tesla businessman had an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted from 2018 to 2022. In 2020, they welcomed their first child — a son named X Æ A-Xii — and later became parents to daughter Exa Dark Sideræl (now 3) and son Techno Mechanicus (2). Musk is also Dad to seven children he shares with his first wife, Justine Wilson, and twins Strider and Azure, whom he shares with Neuralink director Shivon Zilis.
In November, Grimes alluded in a lengthy tweet to having struggled through a custody battle. “Spent a year locked in battle in a state with terrible mothers rights,” she wrote at the time. “having my instagram posts and modeling used as reasons I shouldn’t have my kids and fighting and detaching from the love of my life as he becomes unrecognizable to me, with a fraction of his resources (or iq/ strategy experience), all the while I didn’t see one of my babies for 5 months. And this is only what can be said publicly, since most of my experience these last years should remain behind closed doors.”
The X exchange isn’t the first time Banks has had things to say about Grimes and the soon-to-be co-chair of government efficiency, as newly appointed by president-elect Donald Trump. In 2018, the “Luxury” musician vented on her Instagram Story that she’d “been sitting at Elon Musk’s house alone for days waiting for Grimes to show up” so that the two musicians could collaborate.
“Staying at Elon Musk’s house has been like a real life episode of Get Out,” she’d added shortly afterward.
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Source: Andrew Harnik / Getty
Elon Musk‘s X is now firmly the main meeting space for all things MAGA, offering a safe haven for the hateful and belligerent who fell in line with the movement. However, “First Buddy” Elon Musk and his DOGE Bro Vivek Ramaswamy are catching MAGA wrath on Musk’s social media platform.
To illustrate what is happening with the proposed DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) coalition of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, we look into their recent activity on X as the impetus of the critique both are receiving. On Christmas Day (Dec. 25), Musk posted a missive on X shooting down the idea that more American engineers should be hired over foreign workers, sparking a testy debate.
“The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low. Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win,” Musk wrote.
An X user fired back with, “There are over 330 million people in America. Surely, there must be enough among them to build your ultimate team? Why would you deny real Americans that opportunity by bringing foreigners here?” to which Musk fired back and doubled down with, “Your understanding of the situation is upside-down and backwards. OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process. HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”
The H-1B visa, which allows foreign nationals to work for American companies in special capacities, has been criticized by President-elect Donald Trump in the past and he has shown his preference in hiring American workers first.
Ramaswamy added fuel to the proverbial fire by siding with Musk, who is an immigrant, and pushing the concept of hiring outside of the United States to bring a standard of excellence to the nation. It was a lengthy post from Ramaswamy and we’ll share a portion below.
From Vivek Ramaswamy’s X account:
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH:
Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.
A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.
A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers.
The posts from Musk and Ramaswamy have created quite a firestorm of comments from the likes of Laura Loomer and other conservative figures who believe that the pair are getting this wrong. You can read one of Loomer’s X replies to Musk here.
On X, observers are taking note of the MAGA infighting and potential for implosion within the incoming Trump administration and he hasn’t even been sworn in yet. We’ve got reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: picture alliance / Getty
Elon Musk has publicly backed a far-right political party in Germany on X, formerly Twitter, causing alarm to many observers.
Tesla founder Elon Musk is once again causing controversy as he publicly backed the Alternative für Deutschland of Alternative For Germany Party (AfD) in Germany online. The tech billionaire did so by quoting a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday (Dec. 19) by a right-wing German influencer, Naomi Seibt. The original post was a video criticizing the Christian Democrats party leader Frederich Merz and praising the libertarian Argentinian President Javier Millei. Seibt claimed that the German people should listen to Musk and Millei more than Merz, who saw its parliament dissolved earlier this month after a no-confidence vote. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote. He got an immediate response from AfD head Alice Wiedel, who wrote: “Yes! You are perfectly right @elonmusk!”
The AfD is a far-right populist party that has gained support within the past few years, despite being classified as a “suspected extremist party” by Germany’s judiciary. They were called out for a meeting with an admitted Austrian neo-Nazi and had one of its rising leaders fined heavily for using Nazi slogans during campaign stops in the country. Its platform is dedicated to the expulsion of immigrants from Germany and constantly spews anti-Islamic rhetoric. The party has seen heavy support in what once was East Germany, which has experienced prolonged economic struggles.
Musk was called out indirectly by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin at a press conference. “We have freedom of speech here. That also applies to multimillionaires. Freedom of speech also means that you’re able to say things that aren’t right and do not contain good political advice,” Scholz said. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut was more pointed in his criticism in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Germany is set to hold elections Feb. 23, 2025. The AfD has nabbed the second position in election polls, but most of the nation’s parties have publicly vowed not to work in coalition with them. Musk’s post is another public foray into influencing another nation’s politics, after his exchanges with members of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party through X. It also comes as the U.S. is looking at a potential government shutdown after his demands of Republican politicians led to the failure of a revised bill in the House of Representatives.
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Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is being hammered for using his influence and X, formerly Twitter, to force a government shutdown to aid Donald Trump.
Tech billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk is exerting outsized influence over President-elect Donald Trump, with some seeing him aiming to force a shutdown of the federal government. Democratic lawmakers and observers are pointing to how Musk has been using the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to amplify calls to do so as House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to get the stop-gap bill passed with two days to go. In a post on X, Musk wrote: “Shutting down” the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill.”
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1869476312278286359
He would also post that any member of the House of Representatives who voted for it “deserves to be out in 2 years.” Musk was joined by former Republican presidential candidate and co-chair of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Vivek Ramaswamy, who also blasted Johnson and the bill. The call to “kill the bill” was amplified by MAGA supporters, and Trump himself said he was against the bill to raise the debt ceiling on Wednesday (Dec. 18). When asked if those actions weighed on the GOP members, Arizona Representative Andy Biggs replied, “I think it’s having an effect on some people. I think it probably is.”
The moves by Musk have earned him scorn from Democrats. “If this is the type of power he has, then he is going to be the unelected co-president of this country and we’ve got to be super blunt about it,” said Florida Representative Maxwell Frost, who had a back-and-forth with Musk on X afterward. Vermont Representative Becca Balint echoed his statements. “I’m going to be talking to my folks back home in Vermont who voted for Trump: You thought you voted for Trump, but in fact, Trump just caved to Musk,” she said to Axios.
The pressure is now on Johnson to come up with a plan to satisfy conservatives – one proposal reportedly would include a “clean CR” and dropping $100 million in disaster aid and $30 billion for farmers. Both moves would greatly affect Trump’s base. Johnson’s position is also shaky with a slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives, as his vote to remain Speaker takes place Jan. 3.
Nick Jonas and Elon Musk might be at the start of a new bromance, with the singer/songwriter playfully reacting to the billionaire using an old Jonas Brothers meme on Tuesday.
The interaction started with Musk retweeting a post from the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account that claimed the automotive company is “up 100% since Donald Trump won” the 2024 presidential election. “My, how the tables have turned!” the X owner wrote in response, adding a GIF from a beloved old video of Nick and Kevin Jonas lifting up a brown coffee table and rotating it 180 degrees.
In the original clip, Joe Jonas then bursts into the room and announces: “Oh, how the tables have turned.”
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After seeing that Musk had used a GIF of him and his brothers, the “Jealous” singer retweeted the post with a photo of the businessman knowingly smiling and wrote, “Take us to the Year 3000.”
The exchange was enough to get some people talking, as Musk is one of the world’s most polarizing figures — in large part due to his partnership with the current president-elect. Shortly after beating out Kamala Harris in November, Trump appointed the tech titan as the co-head of a new U.S. government department of efficiency with Vivek Ramaswamy; now, some fans are interpreting Nick’s post as a subtle endorsement of Musk and, by extension, the twice-impeached ex-POTUS.
“Is this a trump post?!” one person commented, tagging Nick’s wife, actress Priyanka Chopra, and adding, “get your man.”
“tweeting at elon musk is definitely a choice,” another person replied, while a different upset fan wrote, “I DID NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON NICK JONAS FOR THIS TO HAPPEN OH MY GOD.”
Billboard has reached out to Nick’s reps for comment.
The Camp Rock alum is currently gearing up to star in The Last Five Years on Broadway, opening March 18. He also stars in Robert Schwartzman’s The Good Half, which premiered in theaters over the summer and became available for streaming on Hulu in November.
Nick hasn’t dropped a solo album since 2021’s Spaceman, but he and his brothers did release The Album in May 2023, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Two and a half months after wrapping their world tour in Poland, the Jonas Brothers are now slated to perform on this year’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
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Source: Brandon Bell / Getty / Elon Musk / Donald Trump
Elon Musk was not pinching pennies during the presidential election. The Tesla Chief donated a lot of money to ensure Donald Trump slimed his way back into the White House.
NBC News reports that Musk donated over $20 million to a mysterious super PAC at the end of Felon 47’s campaign as part of the $250 million he spent to help make America racist again; oops, we meant “great” again, according to new finance reports.
Per NBC News:
Musk financed RBG PAC, according to the report the group filed Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission. The super PAC, which did not disclose its donors before the election, launched ads contending that Trump did not support a federal abortion ban.
All of the money the group pulled in — $20.5 million — came from a single donation from the Elon Musk Revocable Trust in Austin, Texas. RBG PAC spent almost all of its money on digital ads, mailers and text messages, according to the campaign finance report, which covered Oct. 17 through Nov. 25.
The news website also reports that Musk donated $238 million to the America PAC throughout the election cycle, including an extra $120 million in the election’s final weeks.
We Can’t Forget About Those $1 Million Giveaways
According to federal disclosures, America PAC used the money for canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts via text message, printing, postage, and digital ads. America PAC also ran a controversial $1 million giveaway that saw Musk hand checks to people who signed up for the PAC’s heavily conservative-leaning petition.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and the PAC in late October to stop the giveaway. Still, a judge in the state sided with Musk and America PAC, allowing them to continue with the giveaway.
The Justice Department also warned America PAC that the giveaway was damn near close to being illegal, but subsequently, no action was taken by the department.
According to America PAC’s finance report, the $1 million bribes, oops, we mean prizes, were listed as payments for a “spokesperson consultant.”
Bootleg Tony Stark also gave $3 million to the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Alliance, a super PAC affiliated with Donald Trump’s pick to run HHS, Robert F. Kenndey Jr.
So, Musk, who Sweet Potato Mussolini tapped to run the made-up Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help cut government spending, spent a lot to ensure he had plenty of influence when President-Elect Trump took office.
We see the jig.
Grimes is sharing a glimpse her difficult year-long custody battle with Elon Musk, with whom she shares three children: sons X Æ A-Xii, 4, and Techno Mechanicus, 2, as well as daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 3.
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“Having babies rips you apart and puts you back together,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter until Musk bought and renamed the platform in 2023). “Babies are ten thousand philosophy classes of s— you can only learn from that experience.”
She continued, “Spent a year locked in battle in a state with terrible mothers rights having my instagram posts and modeling used as reasons I shouldn’t have my kids and fighting and detaching from the love of my life as he becomes unrecognizable to me, with a fraction of his resources (or iq/ strategy experience), all the while I didn’t see one of my babies for 5 months. And this is only what can be said publicly, since most of my experience these last years should remain behind closed doors.”
Trending on Billboard
While she didn’t indicate which of her children she wasn’t able to see and why, the “Genesis” artist continued that she is now ready to reignite her creative process, “Poetry and pure raw emotion are pouring out of my soul at a rate I’ve never known, and Im improving deeply as a producer past the technical and back to the art after now knowing my craft so much better. + I’ve found the creative partners I’ve always wanted. So I hate to waste everyone’s time, but I have to make what I’m making right now. And it might be upsetting and provocative to many, but it’s real and the people who will feel me will feel me.”
She concluded, “And all that said I’m grateful for every bullet I caught. Cuz I feel on top of the world right now. And everything that used to give me anxiety feels like child’s play after all this. Ego death, ego birth – it’s everything an artist could dream of.”
Musk has 12 children total. In addition to X Æ A-Xii, Techno Mechanicus and Exa Dark Sideræl, Musk shares seven children with his first wife, Justine Wilson — Nevada Alexander Musk, Griffin Musk, Vivian Jenna Wilson and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian Musk. In 2021, he welcomed twins Strider and Azure with Shivon Zilis.