Adult Swim
- Elon Musk has made nearly a dozen cameos in TV shows and movies since 2010.
- The billionaire often plays himself on-screen, and doesn’t seem afraid to make jokes about his wealth and ego.
- Take a look at Musk’s cameos from “Iron Man 2” to “South Park” and “The Simpsons.”
(Photo by Hannibal Hanschke-Pool/Getty Images)
The billionaire may be known for being a tech entrepreneur, but even before temporarily becoming the richest man in the world, Musk was something of a popular figure in Hollywood.
“He was a curiosity and a bauble when he first moved, because there were no tech kingpins in LA,” Ashlee Vance, the author of the 2015 biography “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” told The New York Times earlier this year.
Musk is close friends with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, one of Hollywood’s most powerful agents and the inspiration for the character of Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage.” The billionaire is also reportedly friends with comedian Nathan Fielder and the creators of “Rick and Morty,” to name a few of his Hollywood connections.
The billionaire sold his last house in California in 2021, but he’s left a lasting legacy in the City of Angels — including nearly a dozen cameos, listed below in chronological order.
Sources: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Insider
Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images
Musk made an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010.
In the cameo, which lasts for about 20 seconds, Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., greet Musk. In the scene, Musk plays himself and tells Stark he has “an idea for an electric jet.”
“Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump,” “Iron Man” writer Mark Fergus told New York Magazine about his inspiration for Tony Stark. “He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance. I’m not sure we talked about too many other people; there are not many people like that around.”
Source: New York Magazine
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Musk appears near the end of the sequel to “Machete,” as the film sets up a potential third film in the franchise, “Machete Kills Again…In Space,” that was never made.
The film follows a machete-wielding, ex-federal agent named Machete, played by Danny Trejo, who is working to take down Voz, an evil billionaire played by Mel Gibson.
Near the end of the movie, Machete agrees to go on a SpaceX rocket to chase Voz into space. In a short scene, Musk shakes Machete’s hand and the film shows a SpaceX rocket taking off.
The screenwriter Robert Rodriguez told USA Today that the billionaire’s character is loosely based on Musk, adding that he was inspired to turn the villain into a “Star Wars” fan after meeting Musk at a Hollywood party.
Musk’s former girlfriend Amber Heard also appears in the film.
Source: USA Today, “Machete Kills”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Musk appears for barely a second in the science-fiction thriller as an audience member at a conference on artificial intelligence. At the conference Depp’s character, Dr. Will Caster, discusses how AI can be used to save lives.
In reality, Musk has been a huge proponent of AI. He helped found OpenAI in 2015 and has developed AI systems in Tesla vehicles. Most recently, he announced plans to create an autonomous humanoid robot called Optimus.
The billionaire has also warned against some of the dangers of AI in the past, calling it the “biggest existential threat” to humankind.
Getty
Musk made his first appearance on the show in 2014 in an episode titled “Handicar.”
In the show, Musk hosts a Tesla event which flops due to competition from another business, Handicar. The Tesla CEO challenges the owner of Handicar to a fundraiser competition that leads to his Tesla being run off the road. Musk later decides to buy Handicar for $2.3 billion.
Musk made a second “South Park” cameo in a 2016 episode titled “Members Only,” in which he leads a tour around SpaceX and thwarts Butters’ plans to escape to Mars.
The billionaire has appeared in two other episodes at the SpaceX headquarters as well, “Not Funny” and “The End of Serialization as We Know It.”
Musk tweeted about his first experience in 2014.
—Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) October 16, 2014
Sources: “South Park,” Twitter
Hulu/Fox
In the episode, which centers around a cartoon version of Musk, the billionaire lands a spacecraft in the Simpsons’ backyard.
Throughout the episode, Homer and his “Homerisms” inspire Musk to create new inventions, but the billionaire eventually wreaks havoc on the town in his attempts to electrify Springfield with everything from self-driving cars to a hyperloop. Eventually, his ambitious — and expensive — ideas cause mass layoffs in the town.
By the end of the episode, Homer decides the two men can no longer be friends, and Musk leaves on his spaceship to the tune of David Bowie’s “Starman.”
Musk has said he’s been a fan of the TV show since his college years, but the executive producer Al Jean told Bloomberg they tried to avoid making the episode a “kiss-ass” gesture.
Jean told Bloomberg that Musk got to read the entire script, which takes some shots at the billionaire, ahead of time.
“He was very open to making fun of himself,” Jean said. “He liked the joke where Bart is trying to guess the password to unlock Elon’s self-driving car and tries ‘MUSKRULZ’ and it works.”
Sources: “The Simpsons,” Bloomberg
Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images
In the episode titled “The Platonic Permutation,” Musk appeared as himself.
In a short scene, Howard, played by Simon Helberg, meets Musk at a soup kitchen. The two men bond over their love of space travel, and Howard begs Musk to adopt him or take him on a trip to Mars.
Sources: “The Big Bang Theory,” Twitter
Mike Windle/Getty Images
In the film, which stars James Franco, Bryan Cranston, and Zoey Deutch, Musk appears as himself in a party scene that also includes a cameo by Steve Aoki.
In the scene, Ned, Cranston’s character, strikes up a conversation with Musk at the bar, and the Tesla CEO asks if he’s in the “car business.”
Source: “Why Him?”
Robert Voets/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
In “The Big Bang Theory” prequel, Musk makes an appearance in an episode titled “A Patch, a Modem, and a Zantac.”
The episode shows Sheldon pitching an idea for a reusable rocket in an elementary school class. The teacher is quick to dismiss the idea, but Musk makes a cameo that reveals the billionaire managed to land a Falcon 9 rocket using the ideas from Sheldon’s elementary school notebook.
Source: “Young Sheldon”
Sony Pictures
In a brief part of a scene in the fourth “Men in Black” film, Musk appears as an alien on a surveillance screen at the company’s headquarters.
While Musk looks like himself, the Alien Surveillance System classifies him as a “Nakkadan,” an alien species. Ariana Grande and Donald Grover also make cameos on the Alien Surveillance System in the scene.
Sources: “Men in Black: International,” “Men in Black” Fandom
Adult Swim
In “One Crew over the Crewcoo’s Morty,” Musk plays an alternate reality version of himself called “Elon Tusk” — the main difference between Musk and Tusk being that Elon Tusk was born with long front teeth.
In the episode, Rick comes to him for help at his factory “Tuskla,” saying the Musk in his reality “can be a little bit controlling.” Elon Tusk agrees to help Rick and Morty, and mayhem ensues.
Musk is a longtime fan of the TV show and a friend of the creators, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. Most recently, Musk defended Roiland who has been cut from the show after he was charged with domestic abuse. The billionaire called Roiland “the heart of the show.”
Sources: “Rick and Morty,” Insider
Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
Insider previously reported that Musk’s appearance on the show was relatively tame.
During his monologue, Musk opened up about living with Asperger’s, an autism spectrum disorder, and brought his mom, Maye Musk, on stage.
On the show, Musk took part in skits about everything from Dogecoin to “Super Mario.” In the Mario skit, Musk appeared alongside his girlfriend at the time, Grimes, as Wario and Princess Peach, respectively.
Prior to the show, some SNL cast members appeared to criticize the decision to invite Musk to host, and NBC reportedly allowed comedians to choose not to participate in the episode.
Sources: “Saturday Night Lives,” Insider
The Joe Rogan Experience/YouTube
Rogan has interviewed Musk three times on his podcast, and the Tesla CEO has also appeared on podcasts with Lex Fridman, and the Babylon Bee’s Seth Dillon, Kyle Mann, and Ethan Nicolle.
The billionaire has been featured in several documentaries over the years, including “Racing Extinction,” “Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World,” and the SpaceX-focused Netflix documentary “Return to Space.”
Sources: “Racing Extinction,” “Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World,” “Return to Space,” Insider
