Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Elon Musk for his attacks on Christopher Nolan’s casting of Lupita Nyong’o in The Odysseytelling the tech billionaire to “stay in his lane” during a pointed segment on his late-night show.
The row centers on Nolan’s decision to choose Nyong’o, 43, as Helen of Troy, the figure from Greek mythology whose legendary beauty sparked the Trojan War.
The Oscar-winning actress, who won the Oscar for 12 years a slave in 2013, she will play Hélène and her sister Clytemnestra.
The backlash began when conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on
Musk responded with a single word: “True.”
He then went further, separately suggesting that Nolan’s motivation for the casting was awards eligibility, writing in response to another user: “He wants the awards.”
Musk was referring to Oscar diversity guidelines introduced in 2023, which require best picture nominees to meet certain criteria for representation among cast and crew.
Kimmel addressed the controversy on his show by posting Musk’s tweets, including one in which Musk called Nolan a Odyssey a “desecration” and demanded to know who was responsible for the Academy’s diversity requirements, before displaying a photo of the Tesla Cybertruck on the screen.
“Who exactly is the asshole who thought this was a cool design for a truck?” Kimmel responded.
Musk’s comment didn’t stop at Nyong’o.
When false rumors circulated that trans actor Elliot Page would play Achilles, Musk called it “one of the stupidest, most twisted things I’ve ever heard.”
It later emerged that Page was actually playing Elpenor, a minor character who dies falling from a roof while drunk and is later encountered in the underworld.
After the correction, Musk reposted a tweet denying the existence of Page’s masculinity.
Actor Alec Baldwin entered the debate on Instagram by posting a photo of Nyong’o with the message: “Dear Elon…but she IS the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Nolan’s The Odysseyhis first film since Best Picture Oppenheimerhas one of the most star-studded casts in recent memory.
Matt Damon plays Ulysses, Anne Hathaway his wife Penelope, Tom Holland their son Telemachus and Zendaya the goddess Athena.
Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth and rapper Travis Scott are also part of the cast. The film opens in US cinemas on July 17.
