Olivia Wilde recently appeared on the Louis Theroux Podcast and criticized Elon Musk, while also speaking out against the misogynistic incel culture in general. The director and star of “The Invite” once visited Musk’s SpaceX headquarters and revealed that she met the businessman “long before he was a living thing.”
“I really hate him right now. I really, deeply hate him,” Wilde said. “I met him years ago, I think SpaceX had just built their headquarters in L.A., and we ended up going on a tour because we wanted to see a rocket ship. He donated money to an organization I was a part of that was building hospitals and schools in Haiti. I think he gave a little bit, which I appreciated. I didn’t expect him to go the way he did. He seemed like a really smart guy.”
Wilde pointed out how Musk has perpetuated some of the more disturbing ideologies of incel culture, particularly the belief that men are more powerful than nature. The filmmaker pointed out how Musk ties into this idea by saying, “We don’t have enough people, the world is overcrowded, but we can handle a billion more people.” Musk has frequently expressed his belief that humanity is facing an impending “depopulation crisis,” which he claims is a bigger threat than global warming.
During the fall 2022 press tour for Don’t Worry Darling, Wilde drew attention from incel culture when he said Chris Pine’s villainous character was modeled after author and commentator Jordan Peterson. Peterson later broke down in tears during an interview with Piers Morgan in response to Wilde’s comments.
Wilde defined incels at the time as “disenfranchised, primarily white men who believe they are entitled to sex from women. And they believe that because society has taken them away and feminist ideas are against nature, we must be put back in our rightful place.”
On Theroux’s podcast, Wilde acknowledged that “it might be unfair to call[Peterson]a pseudo-intellectual.” The reason: “He obviously thinks deeply about things, but I just feel like he operates in a buttoned-down way of the type of thinker who connects with the Andrew Tates of the world. There are different layers of that community, and some of them are more articulate about the points they’re really filtering through.”
“My problem with Peterson is that many people who are by no means misogynistic have adopted this sanitized version of the same philosophy that is rooted in deep misogyny and weaponized by the incel community,” Wilde continued. “The fundamental point of it is the right to power. That’s something that a lot of men struggle with…I was disturbed to see this misogyny being used as a weapon, leading us to elect Donald Trump twice, only to empower a group of people that I think is dangerous.”
When asked in 2022 why Wilde’s comments were so emotional, Peterson said, fighting back tears, “It’s really something to see. I always think about how many people die because they didn’t have a word of encouragement, and how easy it is to give a word of encouragement if you’re careful.”
Mr. Wilde told Mr. Theroux that he was more or less stunned by the comment, explaining, “It’s so ridiculous that there’s no word of encouragement. There’s always a loud and powerful word of encouragement to these people, which is, ‘This world is yours and you have a right to it.'” It’s deeply ingrained in our society. They need encouragement and reminders, and the idea that they deserve more is ridiculous. ”
Listen to Wilde’s full interview on “The Louis Theroux Podcast” here.
