Hmm, you would think Elon Musk would have better stuff to do in his spare time.
You know, like sorting out Tesla’s financial issues, or getting to the bottom of his whistleblowing problem – those sort of things.
Nope.
The Tesla CEO is currently embroiled in a Twitter dispute with an artist over a farting unicorn picture.
We wish we were joking about this, but when The Guardian is reporting on it, you know it’s legit:
Tom Edwards, a Colorado potter, was thrilled when Elon Musk tweeted a photo of one of his original mugs featuring his cartoon drawing of a unicorn farting electricity. The Tesla CEO called it “maybe my favorite mug ever” in a February 2017 post – leading to a bump in sales from around the world.
So far, so good.
But then a plot twist came out of nowhere:
Edwards was surprised however, when, a month later, Musk tweeted a copy of his cartoon image to promote Tesla’s new “sketch pad” feature, which allows drivers to draw on a touchscreen. Multiple news articles inaccurately reported that Musk was the one who created and drew the cartoon.
Behold, Musk’s interpretation:
Ja no, I don’t think Musk came up with that idea all by himself.
Meanwhile, Edwards was going to let the whole issue go. After all, he made some bucks in the extra sales of his mugs.
However, he wasn’t pleased when he found out that the image was also appearing in Tesla’s operating system as a small icon without his say-so.
Then the company used the gassy unicorn in a Christmas message, and Edwards was rather frustrated:
“It’s part of their branding now. I love the fact that it’s in the cars, but I just want them to do the right thing and pay me adequately for it. Elon Musk can be a hero for standing up for artists’ rights.”
Except Musk isn’t, apparently.
This had led Edwards’ daughter, Lisa Prank, to call out the Tesla CEO on Twitter on Wednesday, June 27:
Per a report by Mashable, “Grimes’ boyfriend” shot back:
Ooh, the spice and shade of it all.
Prank held her own:
Preach!
Edwards’ lawyer, Tim Atkinson, reportedly sent a letter to Tesla’s general counsel on May 23, but it seems like Musk has done bugger all about responding to it.
I’m not sure Edwards, Prank and Musk are going to kiss and make up soon.
