Chloe Fineman from ‘SNL’ Criticizes Elon Musk’s Inauguration Gesture
Chloe Fineman, a star of “Saturday Night Live,” is raising her voice against Elon Musk once more.
On Tuesday, Fineman posted a message on her Instagram stories, which has now expired, reiterating her disapproval of the Tesla CEO and newly affiliated supporter of Trump.
“Remember when I got criticized for calling out mr nazi salute? Yeah, I have no regrets,” she stated, referencing a moment during the recent inauguration events where Musk seemingly performed a Nazi salute, an action she found offensive. Being Jewish, this made it more personal for her.
The tension between Fineman and Musk began in August when her fellow cast member Bowen Yang shared on “Watch What Happens Live” that a mystery host, who turned out to be Musk, had caused several cast members to cry during his hosting stint in 2021.
By November, Fineman identified herself as one of those who were affected, revealing her story in a now-deleted TikTok video.
“You made me, Chloe Fineman, cry because I stayed up all night crafting a sketch, and I was so thrilled. I came in, inquired if you had any questions, and you looked at me as if you were ready to let me go from Tesla and said, ‘It’s not funny,'” she recounted, addressing Musk directly.
“I was waiting for you to declare, ‘Haha, just kidding.’ But no,” she continued, “Then you began flipping through my script, turning each page and saying, ‘I didn’t find it amusing. Not even once.'”
Musk reacted later on X, a platform he owns, defending his behavior toward Fineman’s sketch but stopping short of admitting that he made her cry, and he offered no apology. Since then, Musk has frequently criticized “SNL,” stating that it has become excessively “woke” on social media, similar to Trump.
Fineman wasn’t the only one to be alarmed by Musk’s gesture, where he raised his arm from his chest at an angle. This action sparked significant backlash online, prompting the Anti-Defamation League to comment, labeling it “an awkward gesture” and suggesting it probably wasn’t meant to replicate the “Sieg Heil” salute used in Nazi Germany.
Musk lightheartedly addressed the accusations, retorting with jokes like, “His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!” in a post on X on Thursday.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow