In an interview for a new Netflix documentary filmed months before her death, famed British primatologist Jane Goodall called for billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to be blasted into space.
“Absolutely, there are people I don’t like,” she told interviewer and TV writer Brad Falchuk, “and I would like to put them on one of Musk’s spaceships and send them all off to the planet he’s sure he’s going to discover.”
When asked if she would like Musk to be on the spacecraft alongside them, she sounded off.
“Oh, absolutely, he’d be the host,” she said. “Along with Musk, it’d be [president Donald] Trump and some of Trump’s real supporters.”
“Put them all on that spaceship and send them off,” she concluded.
The interview was conducted earlier this year, months before Goodall passed away at the age of 91, for Netflix’s “Famous Last Words: Dr. Jane Goodall” documentary.
Goodall’s incisive words highlight a long-simmering resentment against Musk and his former closest ally, president Donald Trump.
In a matter of years, the billionaire has alienated huge swathes of the global population with his embrace of far-right extremism, leaving a sizable dent in his reputation.
Musk has been criticized for largely abandoning his once-admirable goals of saving the environment by advocating for electric vehicles. Instead, he ended up pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the reelection of a staunch climate change denier.
Alongside his own reputation, Musk has dragged his own companies down with him, sharply dividing public sentiment with his increasingly polarizing commentary. Polls have shown that the once richest man in the world’s favorability has been plummeting, particularly since Trump took office at the beginning of this year.
In short, there are countless people like Goodall, who would now like to see Musk blast off inside a rocket to Mars.
The famed primatologist, who spent six decades conducting field research on wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, has a track record of taking aim at Trump as well.
“In many ways, the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals,” Goodall told The Atlantic in 2016, following a presidential debate against then-candidate Hillary Clinton.
“In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks,” she added. “The more vigorous and imaginative the display, the faster the individual is likely to rise in the hierarchy, and the longer he is likely to maintain that position.”
Her latest comments aimed at the world’s elite drew widespread support, an unsurprising reaction, considering the widespread disillusionment.
“Beautiful person with a beautiful soul and a beautiful message,” one Reddit user wrote.
“Bruh, if Jane Goodall roasts you in her final farewell, you done goofed,” another user added.
Meanwhile, on Musk’s own social media platform, X-formerly-Twitter, his supporters were incensed by her comments.
Besides calling for the Tesla CEO and Trump to blast off into space, Goodall said that there was still space for hope.
“I want you to understand that we are part of the natural world,” she told Falchuk. “And even today, when the planet is dark, there still is hope. Don’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you become apathetic and do nothing.”
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