Elon Musk sparks racism accusations after questioning Lupita Nyong’o’s beauty in The Odyssey
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Elon Musk is facing backlash after he went on another online crusade against Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated forthcoming film The Odyssey.
Nolan confirmed in a recent interview that Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o will play dual roles as both Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra in his adaptation of Homer’s epic, slated for a July release.
The casting news sparked swarms of racially charged and misogynistic posts directed at the 12 Years a Slave star, with many people pointing out that Helen of Troy was renowned in Greek mythology as the most beautiful woman in the world.
Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh claimed in an unfounded X post that “not one person on the planet actually thinks that Lupita Nyong’o is ‘the most beautiful woman in the world,’” and added, “Christopher Nolan knows that he would be called racist if he gave ‘the most beautiful woman’ role to a white woman. Nolan is technically talented but a coward. Too afraid to do anything that even slightly challenges the spirit of the age.”
Musk, 54, responded to the post by simply saying: “True.”
Elon Musk questioned Lupita Nyong’o’s beauty after she was cast as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ (Getty Images)
Social media users quickly rallied to call out the Tesla CEO for promoting’s Walsh’s ideology that Helen of Troy should be played by a white woman, with one X user writing: “So this is just open racism.”
Another wrote on the platform, which is owned by Musk: “Imagine being so racist you have to pretend that Lupita ISN’T one of the most beautiful people alive.”
“I actually feel kind of sorry for these men because it must be so sad to be so racist that you can’t even appreciate beauty when it falls outside the Eurocentric standard. Just a sad, bland, boring life,” a third wrote.
Nyong’o did not return The Independent’s request for comment.
This is not the first time that Musk has complained about The Odyssey, which also stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page and Travis Scott.
Elon Musk has shared his criticisms of Lupita Nyongo’s casting as Helen of Troy on X (X)
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In February, he claimed in a post on X that the two-time Oscar-winning director “lost his integrity” because he cast Nyong’o.
He has also shared several posts criticizing Nolan’s casting of Page, who is rumored to play the Greek god Achilles.
Musk, who is estranged from his trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, reposted several transphobic posts about Page, who came out as a transgender man in December 2020.
The Odyssey, in theaters July 17, follows Damon’s Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, as he journeys home after the Trojan War.
