Elon Musk fired back at Billie Eilish after the 23-year-old Grammy winner unleashed one of the most fiery celebrity critiques of the year. Four days after accusing him of hoarding his wealth instead of helping solve global crises, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO finally responded to her tirade about him. Under an X post shared by an Eilish fan account, Musk wrote, "She's not the sharpest tool in the shed." This jab at her intelligence marked his first direct acknowledgment of Eilish's fiery tirade, which ignited a storm online and drew huge applause from fans who praised the singer for "saying what everyone else is afraid to say."
Last Thursday, Eilish, who is estimated to be worth around $50 million, posted a rapid-fire series of Instagram Stories highlighting statistics from the advocacy group MyVoiceMyChoice.org. Each slide outlined what Musk could theoretically fund with his staggering fortune. One graphic claimed he could spend $40 billion a year to end world hunger by 2030, while another said $140 billion could provide safe drinking water to the entire planet for seven years. A separate slide estimated that saving all 10,443 critically endangered species would cost roughly $1–2 billion annually, and another suggested that $53.2 billion could rebuild Gaza and the West Bank, with even larger investments potentially restoring parts of Ukraine and Syria.
After several slides detailing Musk's projected race toward trillionaire status, Eilish ended with a stark black screen containing just eight explosive words: "Fucking pathetic pussy coward bitch." Although she didn't name him directly, the timing and content left fans with zero doubt about her target. Fans erupted with support: "She's doing more than billionaires," with one fan writing, "Her being in her early 20s doing more for the people than old billionaires and politicians says a lot. Mind you, she donated 20% of her net worth - more than Elon and Jeff Bezos ever did combined." Another cheered, "Louder for the people in the back," while a third fan referenced a recent industry event: "Just last week she was in a room full of billionaires and deadass asked them WHY they're billionaires. No one's got bigger balls than Billie Eilish in the industry."
Eilish has increasingly used her platform to scrutinize extreme wealth, most recently calling out billionaires while accepting the Music Innovator Award at WSJ Magazine's Innovator Awards. Standing before guests including Mark Zuckerberg, George Lucas, and Hailey Bieber, she asked, "If you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties." The BIRDS OF A FEATHER hitmaker said at the event held at MoMA in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday: "We're in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than ever, especially in our country."
A source later told People that Zuckerberg, worth $257 billion, did not clap during Eilish's speech. It is important to note that Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan - who was being honored with the Philanthropy in Science Innovator Award - have given more than $7 billion dollars to philanthropy after their 2015 pledge to give away 99% of their shares in Meta (Facebook at the time). Meanwhile, the What Was I Made For? singer is putting her money where her mouth is as presenter Stephen Colbert announced at the event that she has raised more than $11.5 million in donations via her Hit Me Hard And Soft Tour. The proceeds will be going through her Changemaker Program, a charitable initiative benefiting organizations around the world dedicated to addressing food insecurity and the climate crisis. Colbert said at the podium: "I also have the privilege of breaking a little news tonight. Thank you, Billie, for allowing me to do this. It’s extraordinary."
