--- title: "Elon Musk’s Just-Revealed Texts to His Friend Tell You a Lot About His Character" description: "Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is opening up about his relationship with Elon Musk — and about the politically incorrect stuff they discuss." date: "2025-03-18" modified: "2025-03-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musks-texts-friends-character" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "anti-woke" - "elon musk" - "mandela effect" - "palmer luckey" --- # Elon Musk’s Just-Revealed Texts to His Friend Tell You a Lot About His Character ![Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is opening up about his relationship with Elon Musk — and about the politically incorrect stuff they discuss.]() *\Image: KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images\* Oculus founder-turned-[defense-contractor]() Palmer Luckey is opening up about his relationship with mercurial CEO Elon Musk — and about the politically incorrect stuff they discuss. In an appearance on the *Wall Street Journal*'s "[What's News]()" podcast, the intelligence weapons maker said that although he's not quite sure the billionaire considers him a friend, the pair do text each other pretty regularly. Despite both being [major donors]() to president [Donald Trump](), their most recent text exchange wasn't explicitly political. "The last thing we were talking about was the fact that the Black Eyed Peas' Grammy-winning song, 'Let's Get Retarded,' has been taken off every single music platform," the [Hawaiian shirt aficionado]() recounted, "and replaced with the child-safe version that was for children's sports games, 'Let's Get It Started.'" "So that was the last thing that we were talking about," he continued, "and how it's an example of memory-holding that nobody even really talks about, despite everyone agreeing that it has happened." As [*Business Insider* noted]() in its write-up of Luckey's comments, the stridently "anti-woke" defense contractor was wrong on several counts. For one, the lyrics were initially changed to "Let's Get It Started" in 2004 — just a year after the one with the ableist slur dropped on Black Eyed Peas' third album, "Elephunk" — [for an NBA ad](). For another, it was that "child-safe" version that [won a Grammy]() in 2005, not the original that included the so-called "R-word." Aside from revealing that he ascribes to half-baked "[Mandela effect]()" conspiracy theories, Luckey did not say who began the conversation or which of them said what about the original title for that 20-year-old hit. However, we don't need text message transcripts to know that Musk is very fond of using the "R-word," and [deploys it with aplomb]() on his [Nazi-boosting social network](). From using it to [insult the intelligence]() of an astronaut he disagreed with to [poking fun at himself]() with the slur, the world's richest man seems quite taken with the offensive epithet. What's more: his usage of the term dovetails with (and [likely spurred on]()) an increasing trend online that seeks to [normalize the slur](), which was [until recently]() [considered taboo]() thanks to successful awareness-raising campaigns about intellectual disabilities. It's worth noting that despite his love affair with the "R-word," [Musk also insisted in 2023]() that the term "cis" or "cisgender," which simply means not transgender or identifying with one's assigned gender at birth, would be considered a slur on his social network. That policy change, like so many others on the site formerly known as Twitter, seems to be [enforced haphazardly](). Still, it's both outrageous and ironic that the same billionaire who got upset about that "[heterophobic word]()" is now tweeting the ableist slur so regularly that he's even acknowledged that he "[used that word too many times]()." As with so many other disparities in [Musk's fractured worldview](), it appears that he's fine with certain slurs so long as he finds them amusing — and he's preoccupied enough with the "R-word" that he's talking to [fellow billionaires]() about it during his downtime. **More on Muskian messaging:** [*Elon Musk Defends Hitler, Mao and Stalin*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()