Elon Musk has appeared to reignite his feud with Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he called him out for a past PR stunt while the war between Ukraine and Russia was resulting in thousands of deaths.
Elon Musk is taking no prisoners when it comes to calling out the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On Thursday, the Tesla CEO took to his self-owned social media platform X to take aim at Zelenskyy for a cover shoot he did for Vogue back in 2022. This came on the heels of Russia launching its full-scale attack on Ukraine.
Alongside a screenshot of an article reporting on Zelenskyy’s front cover, with his First Lady Olena Zelenska, Musk blasted: “He did this while kids are dying in trenches on the war front.” At the time, the shoot, which famed photographer Annie Leibovitz captured, stirred up an onslaught of controversy, with many slamming the political figure for posing up a storm while his troops were fighting Russia off on the front line.
It was titled Portrait Of Bravery, and while it mainly focused on Zelenskyy’s wife, the president starred in a handful of shots at Mariinsky Palace as well as a powerful shot beside the wreckage of the Antonov AN-225, the world’s largest cargo plane that was shot down by Russian forces.
The feature sparked firey reactions, especially from conservative commentators like Lauren Boebert, who questioned Zelenskyy’s actions for taking part in the shoot.
“While we send Ukraine $60 billion in aid Zelenskyy is doing photoshoots for Vogue Magazine,” the far-right Republican congresswoman tweeted, adding: “These people think we are nothing but a bunch of suckers.”
On the other side of the debate, Verizon executive Tami Erwin shared her support for the piece. At the time she wrote: “An outstanding profile. Olena Zelenska has done an incredible job representing her people, ensuring the world knows the story of women and children of Ukraine – and continuing to give voice to the many in need.”
Fans appeared to echo this sentiment in the replies to Musk’s tweet. One user asked: “Did he invade Russia?? You make it seem like it’s his fault Lmao,” as another person added: “He has been to the front more than any leader in modern times, he was offered to be evacuated. But no, he is a fighter.
They added: “Not Putin, he ran from Moscow when the Chef was still 1000 miles away. He’s the coward. Go to the front and tell us what you see.”
With a third fan pointed out: “Why would he use a media outlet to raise awareness? Surely, the kids dying in the trenches would prefer that he stay silent and not try to reach every possible audience that might have influence to support their cause.”
And user fumed: “This is a low one, Mr Elon Musk.. Zelenskyy @ZelenskyyUa has been the busiest President in the world for the past 3 yrs in service of his country.. This propaganda you posted here is petty..”
