Elon Musk was greeted with a mixture of boos and cheers — though the boos clearly won out — from the crowd during a surprise appearance at a Dave Chappelle comedy show in San Francisco Sunday night.
“Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for the richest man in the world,” Chappelle announced, as Musk walked on stage in the 18,000-seat stadium.
In a video shared on Twitter, the crowd can be heard fiercly booing Musk, whose recent purchase of Twitter has resulted in massive layoffs and looser content moderation.
A number of audience members cheered after the introduction — though there was also a loud chorus of boos, too.
“You weren’t expecting this, were you?” Musk said to Chappelle amidst the slew of boos.
“It sounds like some of those people you fired are in the audience,” Chappelle joked, referring to the recent firings at the social media platform which Musk ordered after his takeover in late October. The billionaire just laughed in response, according to the videos.
However, Chappelle went on to defend Musk during his set.
“All these people who are booing, and I’m just pointing out the obvious, you have terrible seats,” Chappelle said, seemingly trying to make Musk feel better by mocking the people who are booing for not being able to afford better spots.
After Chappelle continued to joke about moving to space, Musk simply thanked Chappelle for having him on stage.
According to tweets and videos, Musk said: “Dave, what should I say?”
“Don’t say nothing. It’ll only spoil the moment. Do you hear that sound, Elon? That’s the sound of pending civil unrest,” Chappelle said.
Chappelle concluded by wishing the audience “peace” and “the joy of feeling free.”
