After taking part in a controversial exchange that rocked the Twitter space, Chief Twit Elon Musk has now apologized for mocking a former Twitter employee who reached out to him inquiring about his job status.
This illustration photo taken on January 30, 2023 shows a phone screen displaying a post on Elon Musk's Twitter account stating "Yikes. Def not me" with an allegedly fake video of him promoting a new cryptocurrency scam shown in the background, in Washington, DC.
Musk vs Halli
Haraldur Thorleifsson was one of the 200 Twitter employees who found himself locked out of his account. With no answer from Twitter for nine days about whether he was still employed or not, Thorleifsson decided to tweet Elon Musk, hoping to catch the billionaire's attention and get an answer about his job status.
On Monday, Thorleifsson tweeted at Musk, asking if he could help him by answering his job situation, saying "Maybe if enough people retweet you'll answer me here?".
Musk asked Thorleifsson about his work and even questioned his disability and need for accommodations, which caused a stir online.
Thorleifsson goes by the name "Halli. He has muscular dystrophy, and uses a wheelchair. Musk tweeted that Halli has a "prominent, active Twitter account and is wealthy", implying that he confronted Musk in public to get a big payout.
While the exchange was going on, Thorleifsson received an email stating that he was no longer employed. Since Elon Musk took over the company, Twitter has had various months of layoffs and firings. Thorleifsson, like others, may have thought he was out of a job.
Elon Musk claimed in a different discussion that Thorleifsson was fired despite having claimed credit for his work while still an employee because he had not performed any actual work for months. His impairment was also addressed in this tweet.
Additionally, Musk claimed that he was evaluated on the job he completed for Twitter, despite having previously informed HR that he was unable to complete it due to reported difficulties.
Halli did not mince his words during the exchange after claiming that Musk cannot go to the toilet on his own. He said: "I'm sorry to hear about that. I know the feeling. The only difference is I can't do it because of a physical disability and you're afraid someone you hurt will attack you while you poop."
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Musk Apologizes
However, the Chief Twit on Tuesday admitted that he misunderstood his situation and apologized to Halli.
"I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful," Musk wrote in a tweet. "He is considering remaining at Twitter."
The former Twitter employee has not responded to the apology, as of writing.
Icelandic resident Thorleifsson has approximately 151,000 Twitter followers. He joined the platform after Twitter purchased his startup Ueno in 2021 under the previous administration.
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