The timing of this news is interesting, to say the least.
On Monday, it was announced that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and the social media giant Twitter have accepted a deal that will make the billionaire the new owner of the platform. When finalized the sale is expected to be valued at just over $44 billion.
Musk has been working on a deal to buy Twitter for the last few weeks emphasizing that as Twitter’s owner, he wants to expand the kind of speech the social network allows. The billionaire has criticized Twitter’s “failure” to uphold principles of free speech.
The news has not made a lot of people happy, many of them being on the progressive left. #RIPTwitter and #DeleteTwitter began trending on the platform Monday afternoon after reports that Musk indeed bought the social media site, and now there is a hit-piece documentary already in the works targeting Musk.
The New York Times and Disney-owned network FX are working on an upcoming film entitled “Elon Musk’s Crash Course.” Directed by New York Times producer and director Emma Schwartz, the film will be an exposé into Musk’s company Tesla, and its work on self-driving cars.
Featuring the reporting from Cade Metz and Neal Boudette of The New York Times, the film will explore Tesla’s Autopilot program that they claim resulted in several deaths that Musk and the company have yet to publicly acknowledge.
Schwartz took to Twitter to comment on the news writing, “Excited to finally share that the doc I directed on for The New York Times and FX Documentaries is coming out soon – Elon Musk’s Crash Course. With Cade Metz Neal Boudette More here: https://t.co/t0qtL9BCRc (And the irony of announcing this, today, on Twitter, does not escape me.)”
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The film will also detail Musk’s efforts to kill government investigations into the incidents. Several former Tesla employees will be featured in the documentary, speaking out against Musk for the first time.
The official press release from the New York Times states the following, “Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has claimed since 2015 that, for Tesla, technology for self-driving cars is essentially a ‘solved problem,’ and made outlandish claims about Autopilot capabilities. But a New York Times investigation reveals the quixotic nature of Musk’s pursuit of self-driving technology, and the tragic results.”
It continues, “Drawing on first-hand accounts, the film traces how Autopilot has been a factor in several deaths and dozens of other accidents that Tesla has not publicly acknowledged. It details pressure Elon Musk put on government officials to quash investigations and features inside stories from several former Tesla employees, who speak out against Musk for promoting a self-driving program that they believe was perilous.”
“Elon Musk made his name, and fortune, taking bold risks and betting on the impossible, but the story of his pursuit of self-driving has put Musk on a crash course with both the business realities and technology’s limits. Yet, even after years of unfulfilled promises, Elon Musk continues to double down on his Full Self Driving service, once again, with questionable results,” the press release asserts.
The project is already set for a May 20th premiere on FX and Hulu.
The timing of this release has raised many eyebrows given the current ordeal between Musk and the left-wing activists protesting the sale of Twitter.
Disney, which bought FX a couple of years ago as part of its acquisition in the Fox deal, has spent the month battling the state of Florida over its Parental Rights in Education bill that bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to students in kindergarten through third grade.
The move to publicly oppose the bill led to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing a law to dissolve Disney’s special tax and governing jurisdiction in the state.
The New York Times has been very critical of Elon Musk over the course of the last few months. On April 11th, the publication called Musk’s plans to take over Twitter a “treacherous situation” for the social media company.
The paper also criticized Musk’s behavior on Twitter, saying he’s known “for being unpredictable and outspoken, often using Twitter to criticize, insult and troll others.”
Needless to say, both Disney and The New York Times have an unfavorable view of Twitter’s new boss. What do you make of this new documentary on Musk and it’s timing?