Twitter CEO Elon Musk sparked a backlash by posing for a selfie with an infamous Russian war defender at the World Cup final in Qatar – as he has yet to confirm if he will step down as Chief Twit.
Musk was seen chatting and posing for photos with Nailya Asker-Zade, a host at the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company whose boyfriend, Andrey Kostin, is Vladimir Putin’s private banker.
Musk was also spotted with Jared Kushner and Turkey’s authoritarian leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an exclusive box at Sunday’s riveting final between France and Argentina.
In a recorded interaction of Asker-Zade and Musk’s picture posted to TikTok, the Russian media host can be seen briefly catching the attention of Musk – who can be seen holding a tall jar of dark liquid that looked like red wine.
Asker-Zade takes a selfie with Twitter CEO Elon Musk at the World Cup final in Qatar
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Nailya Asker-Zade during the head of state’s annual televised question-and-answer telephone session
On Telegram – an encrypted messaging service – Asker-Zade wrote about her experience with Musk at the finals.
“Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final. I agree with Elon Musk’s assessment of the match: “A duel in the desert. You couldn’t have asked for a better game. “I’ve seen him share his feelings about what’s happening on the field on his Twitter,” she wrote.
“I have a lot of bright emotions — I’ll tell you that soon,” she added.
Ivan Zhdanov of the Anti-Corruption Foundation tweeted the picture of Asker-Zade on Tuesday, writing: “Elon I hope you didn’t know who it was.”
The Anti-Corruption Foundation also acknowledged that Musk may not have known who Asker-Zade was before posing for the picture.
They tweeted: “Elon Musk took a selfie with Russian propagandist Naila [sic] Asker-Zade (hopefully) didn’t know who she was.
“Check the ACF 6,000 list of Putin allies and warmongers or use our sanctions tracker to avoid such situations: santions.acf.international,” the organization wrote.
A follow-up tweet targeted Kostin, who, they wrote, “gifted Asker-Zade millions of dollars worth of elite property, a private jet and yacht.”
Unknown Twitter users also complained about Musk’s picture, including one who wrote‘Elon Musk at the final in Doha taking a selfie with Nailya Asker-Zade, famous Russian propagandist and wife of Andrey Kostin, Putin’s banker.
“Second richest man in the world and Twitter boss, that’s not a good sign”
According to the Mirror, Asker-Zade was previously investigated by prominent Russian dissident Alexey Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and sanctioned by Canada and the UK.
In announcing sanctions against Asker-Zade, the UK noted that it was “involved in obtaining a benefit from or assisting the Russian government by continuing its business as a Russian government-affiliated entity”.
Kostin was already sanctioned by the United States and the EU in 2018 for his role as Putin’s personal piggy bank.
Asker-Zade pictured with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as she interviews him during his annual special question-and-answer session at Moscow’s World Trade Center
Nailya Asker-Zade (centre) with her boyfriend Andrey Kostin (left). The two have each been sanctioned by several Western nations for their pro-Russian and pro-Putin activities. Kostin is Putin’s personal banker
Musk at the World Cup final in Qatar with Jared Kushner (left), son-in-law of former President Donald Trump
Shortly after attending the finals, Musk tweeted a poll asking if he should step down as Twitter boss. The vote ended with 57.5 percent of the participants saying he should resign.
It’s unclear if Musk will abide by the poll’s findings, and if so, it’s even less clear who will replace the SpaceX founder as the short-form posting platform’s chief executive officer.
Among the reputable names floating around is Jason Calacanis, who is said to be one of Musk’s closest friends and allies.
After Musk took over Twitter in November and axed most of his existing leadership, Musk brought in his own inner circle — Calacanis among them.
He has previously expressed interest in the job, telling Musk in a text exchange, “Put me in the game coach! Twitter CEO is my dream job.”
Other contenders include Sriram Krishnan, an angel investor and tech engineer who previously worked at Yahoo. He is currently a member of Musk’s “Fix it” team on Twitter.
Former Facebook/Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg is another name reportedly floating around for the top job. After her somewhat mysterious departure from Meta, she has yet to be caught for her next appearance.
Those stepping into the role after Musk will face a number of challenges as the platform attempts to establish more user transparency and an effective business model.
Musk has sparked some controversy since taking over the platform, particularly in recent days when he banned and then unbanned nine journalists he claimed had tainted his site.
Musk defended his decision to suspend the accounts, which included Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz and independent journalist Aaron Rupar, writing, “All will be treated equally.”
“You are not special just because you are a journalist.”
Most journalists claimed they hadn’t doxxed the CEO’s address or location.