HBO
John Oliver decided to focus on Elon Musk in the last new episode of Last Week Tonight of 2023. The comedian roasted the billionaire by recounting all the controversies he has been involved in over the past year, saying he “could take down any villain in a movie.”
“There’s Lex Luthor, who poses for the cover of Metropolis Maniacs every month. There's “Why No Mr. Bond?” “Me and my little bride are expecting you to die,” Oliver joked. There's, 'I just bought your media company and I'm about to take parts from you.' There's 'First Racist Sheriff.'”
He continued: “And finally, the less shitty reimagining of Billy Zane’s character in Titanic. The man really has range.”
Oliver recalled Musk's headlines from the test of the “most powerful rocket ever built” to the Tesla recall that affected two million vehicles via Autopilot software. The HBO host also played the clip of Musk telling advertisers where to go after reactions to anti-Semitic posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. At that point, Oliver said Musk was dressed as Chip from the Disney animated series Rescue Rangers.
John Oliver compares Elon Musk to Chip from “Rescue Rangers” HBO
Oliver further explained that over the last year, Musk has changed the way people perceive him. The comedian cited that Musk was once described as “the real Iron Man” and recalled that the billionaire made a cameo appearance in Marvel's “Iron Man 2” alongside Robert Downey Jr.
As Oliver recalled Musk's rise, he played a clip comparing the Tesla owner to Henry Ford, the business tycoon and founder of Ford Motor Company.
“Elon Musk, like Henry Ford, managed to build on the technology that others had invented,” Oliver said before releasing the zing, adding: “That's actually not the only way he's similar to Henry Ford , which you would also know if you ever googled their names and the word anti-Semitism.”