No, Elon Musk didn’t threaten to suspend X users who call him fat


Musk and Trump at SpaceX Starship rocket test flight, Boca Chica, Texas, 11-19-2024
President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk at the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, Nov. 19, 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas. (AP)

X owner Elon Musk has threatened to suspend accounts on the social media platform for many reasons, but calling him “fat” isn’t one of them. 

“Accounts calling me fat, ‘Elonia’, ‘The First Lady’, saying I can’t jump, or pointing out my hair plugs and jawline gender affirming surgery, will be suspended without warning,” an image of a purported Nov. 17 X post from Musk says.

A Threads post sharing the image was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

This statement doesn’t appear on Musk’s X account, and we found no credible evidence — such as news reporting or a link to a deleted X post — that it ever did. 

Rather, it appears that another X post from Musk, in which he said, “Instead of teaching fear of pregnancy we should teach fear of childlessness,” was altered to create this fake suspension warning. This post has the same date and Eastern Standard Time time stamp as the image in the Threads post.

The X account profile photo on the Threads post image also doesn’t match the one Musk uses, signaling that it’s fabricated. 

We rate claims this is an authentic Musk post False.

 

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

  • This post was fabricated. 

Statement

Says Elon Musk said he would suspend X “accounts calling me fat.”

Context

a Threads post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Viral image
Targets: Elon Musk

Statement Date

November 20, 2024
Our Sources

Threads post, Nov. 20, 2024

PolitiFact, No, Elon Musk didn’t threaten to suspend X users ‘promoting propaganda,’ Sept. 12, 2024

X post, Nov. 17, 2024

Elon Musk’s X account, visited Nov. 20, 2024

 

Translations

Language: en

More by This Author

Latest Fact Checks