Ayo Edebiri calls out ‘idiot’ Elon Musk for inciting ‘death threats and racial slurs’ against her
Ayo Edebiri has claimed that a post by Elon Musk led to a flurry of threats on her life. (Getty)
The Bear actress Ayo Edebiri has claimed that tech billionaire turned Donald Trump advisor Elon Musk was responsible for inciting “insane death threats” against her after he spread misinformation about an acting role.
In a post on his platform X, formerly Twitter, back in February 2024, the Tesla founder shared fake news about queer actress Ayo Edebiri “replacing” Johnny Depp in future Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off films.
Musk shared a since-deleted post from X profile @unlimited_ls, a self-proclaimed “source for political news” and apparent Musk fan account, which incorrectly claimed Edebiri was in the running for the lead role in “Pirates 6“, a female-fronted spin-off from the Disney franchise.
He quote-tweeted the post, writing: “Disney sucks.” Musk’s two-word response was seen by more than 61 million people, and received more than half a million “likes” on the platform.
Rumours of Edebiri’s involvement appeared to surface out of nowhere, but were likely related to 2020 reports that Disney wanted a Pirates of the Caribbean reboot with a female lead. Barbie star Margot Robbie was confirmed at the time to be writing the screenplay, but in 2022 revealed the project had been shelved.
Recalling the major spread of misinformation, Edebiri shared a screenshot of Musk’s original post on her Instagram Stories yesterday (11 March), and revealed that she received “insane death threats” because of it.
“Just remembering when I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life (idk if it’s the #1 moment, but for sure top 3) for a fake reboot of a movie I had never even heard of because of this man LMAO,” she wrote.
She went on to reference controversy that arose in January, after Musk appeared at a Trump inauguration event and made a gesture with his arm that some felt looked similar to the salute made during the Nazi era in Germany in the 1930s and ’40s.
“So not only is he double s**g h**ling fascist, he’s an idiot,” Edebiri continued in her post.
“But anyway… Life is of course a gift.”
Musk has previously responded to those who claimed he used a Nazi salute, writing on X that “The ‘Everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired”.
Edebiri went on to share a follow up post in which New Girl writer Camilla Blackett suggested that, actually, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress would do a pretty stellar job in a Pirates reboot.
“@waltdisneyfrozenhead wait no DEI, but I’ve changed my mind, maybe we can make some money idk lmk,” Edebiri quipped.
Besides, Ayo Edebiri is probably too booked and busy to lead a Pirates of the Caribbean revamp. This year alone, she’s promoting her new thriller film Opus, plus her roles in Luca Guadagnino’s new film After The Hunt and comedy drama Ella McCay.
She’s also in talks to write and star in an A24 film based on big purple animated dinosaur Barney, while The Bear season four is on the way, too.
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