Though he’s usually beloved for his film career, Morgan Freeman found himself on the opposite end of online fandom after Elon Musk praised the Hollywood luminary for his support.
On the afternoon of April 23, the 85-year-old unexpectedly became a trending topic on X when Musk shared a 2016 clip of Morgan Freeman talking to CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla about his purchase of Tesla stock.
“I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk, and I think he’s got the most incredibly forward-thinking ideas about where we can go technologically. He’s, you know, what he’s done, nobody else has ever done. He’s landed a rocket ship, so it’s reusable. You know what a feat that is? Now we’re taking off, we’re going to be going to Mars delivering stuff to people who are going to be settling there just like they settled the Old West, and bringing those ships back and landing them, reloading them.”
“Morgan Freeman is awesome,” wrote Musk when he retweeted the clip of the Oscar winner.
Musk’s endorsement of Freeman shot the actor to the top of the platform’s trending Topics. Some X users agreed with the “voice of God” and enthusiastically shared similar sentiments about the billionaire.
Then, there were others who were in disbelief over the actor’s opinion of the businessman. One person wrote, “He hates you and everyone who looks like you.”
Morgan Freeman is awesome https://t.co/JcIQ1yMDoc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2024
A sector of the social platform found the commentary to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Freeman sharing divisive thoughts. Several snippets from past interviews quickly began to circulate.
In particular, the uproar led some of the actor’s fans to revisit his stance on Black History Month being “ridiculous” and racist. In a 2005 “60 Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace, Freeman once said, “I don’t want a Black History Month” because “Black history is American history.”
“You’re gonna relegate my history to a month?” asked Freeman. “What do you do with yours? Which month is White History Month?”
When asked how he believed society could get rid of racism, Freeman responded, “Stop talking about it. I’m gonna stop calling you a white man, and I’m gonna ask you to stop calling me a Black man.”
Morgan Freeman speaks on ending racism
— African Hub (@AfricanHub_) April 23, 2024
Your comments on this … pic.twitter.com/Xcpe0qNPxG
“Idiotic. Issues don’t get resolved by not talking about them,” responded an X user to the clip. “There is a reason why white people love this clip so much. It’s a black person telling them to ignore racism.”
Another individual who took issue with his logic slammed the Memphis native with their comment, “Morgan Freeman and degenerate yt ppl think the solution to end racism is to stop talking about it. I guess it’s too hard to just not be racist & dismantle systemic racism? I wonder if we stop talking about poverty, human rights, global warming etc. will that also just go away?”
Not you too Morgan. A fucking sellout. I never saw this one. FFS 🤦🏾♂️
— Luther ‘Ćyrus’ (@Censored4sure) April 23, 2024
Imagine being on the wrong side of history watching people repeat history.
This is disgusting @morgan_freeman pic.twitter.com/d1IArI7RDI
Additionally, his 2021 public service announcement imploring Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because he trusts science provoked even more people to angrily speak out against him.
“Not you too Morgan. A f—king sellout. I never saw this one. FFS Imagine being on the wrong side of history watching people repeat history. This is disgusting,” tweeted a displeased user on the dredged-up video.
Oddly enough, fans were rushing to Freeman’s defense in February when Auburn University star Johni Broome slapped the actor’s hand for touching him. At the time, Broome reacted before realizing it was the star and not a heckler.
In any case, many of these videos would have been a distant memory if it had not been for Elon Musk resurfacing the vintage interview from 2016 and making Morgan Freeman a trending topic.
“Since Morgan Freeman is trending I clicked his name and watched him say some unbelievable stuff in interviews over the years. Like my grandma used to say, ‘There’s no fool like an old fool,’” said one X user.
