Is Elon Musk a Racist? SpaceX CEO Sparks Racism Accusations After Questioning Lupita Nyong'o's Beauty

Elon Musk is facing accusations of racism after he publicly agreed with a right‑wing commentator who claimed that Oscar‑winning actor Lupita Nyong'o was unfit to play Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan's forthcoming film The Odyssey, in a row that erupted on X, the social media platform Musk owns, this week.

Nolan recently confirmed that Nyong'o will take on dual roles as Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra in his adaptation of Homer's epic poem, due for release in July. The casting immediately drew attention because Helen is described in Greek mythology as the most beautiful woman in the world. That familiar phrase was quickly weaponised online. Far‑right accounts and culture‑war pundits flooded X with complaints that a Black woman had been chosen for the part, folding race, beauty standards and Hollywood politics into a single, predictable outrage cycle.

At the centre of it was a post from American commentator Matt Walsh, who argued without evidence that not one person on the planet actually thinks that Lupita Nyong'o is 'the most beautiful woman in the world.' He went further, suggesting Nolan only cast her because he was afraid of being labelled racist if he gave the role to 'a white woman,' calling the director 'technically talented but a coward'. It was the kind of culture‑war broadside that normally bounces around certain corners of X without wider notice.

Elon Musk changed that with one word. He replied 'True' to Walsh's post, a tiny intervention that carried the weight of his 150‑million‑plus following and his control over the platform itself. In doing so, he appeared to endorse not just Walsh's aesthetic judgement, but the underlying claim that Nolan's casting was driven by fear of anti‑racism critics and that Helen of Troy should effectively remain a whites‑only role.

Elon Musk, Lupita Nyong'o And Claims Of 'Open Racism'

The backlash to Elon Musk was immediate and unusually personal. 'So this is just open racism,' one X user wrote, accusing the SpaceX and Tesla chief of amplifying an argument that beauty and mythological status should be tethered to whiteness. Others took issue with what they saw as the erasure of Nyong'o's existing cultural status. 'Imagine being so racist you have to pretend that Lupita ISN'T one of the most beautiful people alive,' another user posted.

There was also a more weary tone from some commentators, who framed the row as part of a long‑running refusal to see non‑white women as archetypes of beauty. '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,' one user wrote. 'Just a sad, bland, boring life.'

Nyong'o, who won an Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave and has led major franchises including Black Panther, did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent. Nolan has also not publicly addressed the criticism of his casting decisions in The Odyssey. Without their responses, much of the debate remains framed by Musk's one‑word endorsement and the complaints of online commentators. Nothing has been confirmed about Nolan's casting rationale, so claims about his motives should be treated with caution.

Previous Clashes Between Elon Musk And The Odyssey Cast

The row over Nyong'o is not the first time Elon Musk has targeted Nolan's new film. In February, he took to X to complain that the director had 'lost his integrity' by casting her in The Odyssey. That earlier jab attracted far less attention, but in hindsight it set the stage for his latest intervention and his apparent alignment with more openly racialised critiques.

Musk has also repeatedly engaged with posts attacking another member of the ensemble, Elliot Page, who is reportedly set to play Achilles. The entrepreneur, who is estranged from his trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, has reposted and amplified several transphobic comments about Page, who came out as a transgender man in December 2020. Again, there is no direct evidence about why Nolan chose Page for the role, yet those choices have been folded into broader arguments about so‑called 'wokeness' in Hollywood.

The cast list for The Odyssey reads like a roll‑call of A‑list talent. Alongside Nyong'o and Page, the film features Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal and rapper Travis Scott. The film is scheduled to reach cinemas on 17 July and will follow Damon's Odysseus as he attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

That scale and visibility partly explain why the project has become a magnet for culture‑war skirmishes. With Elon Musk repeatedly inserting himself into the conversation around The Odyssey and using his own social media platform to do it, the argument over whether his latest comment was simple agreement with a critic or something closer to racism is unlikely to fade before the film opens.