Ayo Edebiri revealed that she received a deluge of “insane death threats” and racial abuse after Elon Musk retweeted a phony rumor about a Pirates of the Caribbean reboot starring the Emmy-winner.
Last February, Musk retweeted a post from an account called Unlimited L’s, which calls itself a “Source For Political News, Crimes And Social Injustice.” Unlimited L’s claimed — emphasis on claimed — that Disney was considering Edebiri as a replacement for former Pirates star Johnny Depp. The post seemed less like a genuine bit of casting gossip than a not-so-blind item meant to stoke culture war animosity against a frequent right-wing target.
Musk, as he so often does, took the bait, tweeting, “Disney sucks.”
Edebiri made no comment at the time, but on her Instagram Stories yesterday (March 11), she brought it back up, sharing a screenshot of the original post, and writing, “Just remembering when I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life (idk if it’s the #1 moment, but for sure top 3) for a fake reboot of a movie I had never even heard of because of this man.”
With an all-caps “LMAO,” Edebiri added of Musk, “Not only is he [a] double s**g h**l-ing fascist, he’s an idiot, but anyway.” (Edebiri was referring to Musk’s one-armed salute at a Trump inauguration event that sure looked like a Nazi Sieg Heil.)
It appears Edebiri was compelled to tell this story after catching Bill Burr’s new interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” In her previous post, Edebiri shared a quote from Burr criticizing liberals for not standing up more firmly to Donald Trump and Musk. And though Edebiri didn’t post this quote, in the same interview Burr said Musk was “evidently a Nazi,” adding of the controversial hand gesture, “I just refuse to believe it was an accidental two-time Sieg Heil.”
Because the internet is incredibly small (and often stupid), Edebiri’s post also made its way back to the Unlimited L’s account, which defended both the veracity of the original Pirates of the Caribbean rumor, and, for some reason, Musk.
“These people are completely unhinged,” the X post read. “Ayo Edebiri waited over a year to address rumors and credible reports circulating in Hollywood from trustworthy sources. And, of course, she attacks Elon Musk.”
(Hope he sees this, bro — actually, he probably will. Sigh.)
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