Yahoo Finance Elon Musk reveals autism diagnosis on Saturday Night Live
Elon Musk has revealed he has Asperger’s as he appeared on Saturday Night Live.
Mr Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX founder, hosted SNL for the first time despite some controversy around the choice for him to host the comedy show.
In his opening monologue, Mr Musk joked about his monotonal speaking style, saying no one can tell when he’s joking.
“It’s great to be hosting ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and I really mean it,” he said.
“Sometimes after I say something, I have to say that I mean it. That’s because I don’t always have a lot of intonation variation in how I speak, which I’m told makes for great comedy.
“I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL.”
Mr Musk’s admission drew applause from the crowd. He then joked “or at least the first to admit it”.
“To anyone who’s been offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars, and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship,” the billionaire said.
“Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”
He also joked about his son's name, X Æ A-12, which he jokingly explained is pronounced "cat running across keyboard" and made fun of the time he smoked marijuana on a popular podcast, causing the Tesla share price to tumble.
Tesla CEO's admission divides opinion
Mr Musk sharing his Asperger’s diagnosis divided opinion.
Many also felt the show was celebrating a man for his exorbitant wealth in a time of great inequality and a man who spread misinformation to his huge Twitter following as he downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
Some pointed out Mr Musk isn’t the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL as Dan Akroyd, who also has Asperger’s, has hosted the show.
“Such a paradox - hate him because he made it within the system or realise he made it against the odds?” one viewer tweeted.
One thanked Musk for “shedding a light” on Asperger’s, adding his appearance was “very funny”.
“I think he did a great job. I had no idea he had Asperger’s,” another woman tweeted.
Monologue! 💫 @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/xeH1EOU79A
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) May 9, 2021
Dogecoin, touted by Elon Musk, plummets during show
Mr Musk’s appearance saw cryptocurrency Dogecoin drop by about 28 per cent after his appearance on the show in which he called it a “hustle”.
Dogecoin was quoted as low as US$0.47 on crypto exchange Binance, down 28 per cent from levels around $0.65 before the show.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts had for days been eager to see what he would say, after his tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency into a speculator's dream.
Asked 'what is Dogecoin', Mr Musk replied, "It's the future of currency. It's an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world."
When SNL cast member Michael Che countered, "So, it's a hustle?", Musk replied, "Yeah, it's a hustle" and laughed.
His cryptic tweets "Doge" and "Dogecoin is the people's crypto" that month kicked off a rally in Dogecoin - created as a parody on the more mainstream Bitcoin and Ethereum.
On Thursday, Mr Musk tweeted: "Cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!" with a video clip attached in which he said, "it should be considered speculation at this point. And so, you know, don't don't go too far in the crypto speculation ..."
But he also said, in the video, that cryptocurrency has a "good chance" of becoming what he called "the future currency of the Earth."
with Wires
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