Gaiman bitingly said he wouldn’t seek Musk’s opinion on artistic work since the billionaire entrepreneur doesn’t ask him “for advice on how to fail to buy Twitter.” (Musk is being sued by Twitter for trying to back out of his deal to buy the social media platform.)
Musk tweeted that J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, “is turning in his grave.” He added, “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
Meanwhile, Gaiman has been making headlines after an adaptation of his popular DC comic book series The Sandman debuted in August on Netflix to rave reviews and high viewership. Gaiman, who developed and executive-produced The Sandman series, was asked by a fan on Twitter about Musk’s comments on Rings of Power.
“Elon Musk doesn’t come to me for advice on how to fail to buy Twitter, and I don’t go to him for film, TV or literature criticism,” the Coraline author replied.
Bezos has spoken about how important The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is to him personally, which has led many people to see Musk’s tweets as an affront.
Musk’s take on Rings of Power has been derided by others on Twitter in addition to Gaiman.
“I don’t know how to explain to you that ‘making men look good’ is not and never has been the point of fiction,” journalist and feminist author Laurie Penny tweeted in response to Musk.
Musk followed up his Monday comments by weighing in on Rings of Power again. On Tuesday, he responded to a tweet that contained a link to a story from The Daily Wire about how some Hollywood critics have called online reviewers “racist” for denouncing the show.
“Those who claim any criticism of Rings of Power means you’re racist are outing themselves as closet racists,” Musk wrote.
Newsweek has reached out to Gaiman and Musk for comment.
