Elon Musk criticized the “woke” Oscars on his platform before later retracting his statement amidst social media backlash. He initially compared the ceremony-goers to a Nazi traitor.

The 52-year-old billionaire took to his X page (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday (March 11) to ridicule the 96th Academy Awards.

He wrote in a post that has since been viewed 54.1 million views: “Winning an Oscar now just means you won the woke contest.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines being woke as being “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”

Elon Musk criticized the Oscars on social media, comparing it to a “woke contest” 

Image credits: Stringer/Anadolu

Before the award show’s start time, the Tesla CEO had initially written in another X post that an Oscar win meant “you were the best Quisling” before editing his take to instead call the ceremony a “woke contest.”

“Quisling” refers to Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian politician who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. The term “Quisling” has since become a generic term for a traitor who collaborates with an enemy occupying force.

Elon went on to react to a post about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rules for the Oscars, where an X user claimed that DEI made the award show “less about merit and good movies,” as per HuffPost.

Winning an Oscar now just means you won the woke contest

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2024

“When an award is diluted, everyone knows, including those who received it, and it no longer commands respect,” the businessman, who has previously gone after DEI initiatives, as per NBC News, wrote in a separate X post.

Elon eventually softened his stance on the “woke contest,” reacting to a post that highlighted white winners at the Academy Awards.

“Guess I was wrong,” he replied to his post.

Elon later softened his stance on the “woke contest”

Well, that was surprising

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2024

In response to the SpaceX founder’s remarks, many pointed to Oppenheimer, which won seven Oscars after being nominated in 13 categories, making it the biggest victor of the year.

The Christopher Nolan movie has a nearly (if not all) white cast and centers around the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons.

It’s safe to say that the topic of the Oscar-winning biographical thriller film doesn’t quite fit the “woke” criteria.

Guess I was wrong

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2024

While some people agreed with Elon’s statement, others clapped back, with a person commenting: “You think if Oppenheimer wins it’s because it’s woke?”

Another person wrote: “Sorry, disagree here. 

“While there is a stigma of wokeness and liberalism, a lot of people work on a movie. 

“Celebrate them and their efforts.”

A separate individual chimed in: “Yet another thing you know nothing about, and that money can not buy.”

Elon Musk faced both support and criticism for his statement

Elon wasn’t the only right-wing individual criticizing the awards show, as former US President Donald Trump posted on his conservative social platform Truth Social that it was “a really bad political show” and called it “disjointed, boring and very unfair,” Pink News reported.

He continued: “Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them?

“Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths.

“Make America Great Again.”

The nominees and winners of some of the 96th Academy Awards categories:

Best Picture:

Winner: Oppenheimer

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Best Actress:

Winner: Emma Stone – Poor Things
Annette Bening – Nyad
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller – Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan – Maestro

Best Actor:

Winner: Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Best Supporting Actress:

Winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
America Ferrera – Barbie
Jodie Foster – Nyad

Best Supporting Actor:

Winner: Robert Downey Jr – Oppenheimer

Sterling K Brown – American Fiction
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Best Director:

Winner: Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan

Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

Best Original Song:

What Was I Made For? – Barbie (Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell)

The Fire Inside – Flamin’ Hot (Diane Warren)
I’m Just Ken – Barbie (Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt)
It Never Went Away – American Symphony (Jon Batiste, Dan Wilson)
Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) – Killers of the Flower Moon (Scott George)

Elon’s X post continued to provoke heated debates

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