(DailyWire) SpaceX employees circulated an open letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk for his “behavior in the public sphere.” Those employees now find themselves out of a job, according to a Friday report from The New York Times.
“Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter, first obtained by The Verge, asserted. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.”
The employees also said that “it is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values,” exhorting SpaceX to “swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s personal brand.”
Those responsible for the Wednesday letter were fired by Thursday afternoon, the Times reported on the basis of three employees’ confirmation and an email obtained from SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell.
“The letter, solicitations and general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views,” Shotwell wrote. “We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.”
“Personally, I believe the allegations to be false; not because I work for Elon, but because I have worked closely with him for 20 years and never seen nor heard anything resembling these allegations,” Shotwell said.
The letter also came as Musk made headlines for announcing that he cast his ballot for Mayra Flores — a Mexican-American Republican congressional candidate who won a historically Democratic district in southern Texas — after earlier announcing that he would vote Republican in this year’s midterm elections. When asked online about who he was leaning toward supporting in the 2024 presidential election, Musk pointed to “DeSantis.”
