Elon Musk Apologized to SpaceX Employees After Smoking Weed

In a newly-leaked email, Musk admitted that it was "not wise" to spark up with Joe Rogan.

Bad Trip

In September 2018, enigmatic billionaire Elon Musk made an eyebrow-raising appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. During the two-hour conversation, Rogan offered him a puff of marijuana — an otherwise harmless decision that got his space company SpaceX, and Tesla, into a lot of trouble.

SpaceX had to undergo an extremely thorough and expensive safety investigation by NASA after Musk's stunt, according to a new report in The Washington Post — which is also now reporting that Musk issued an internal mea culpa about his weed smoking to the rocket company's employees in a mass email.

Hypocritic Oath

In the email, obtained by the Post, Musk apologized for sparking up with Rogan. Musk admitted that "it was not wise" to smoke pot and that "SpaceX maintains a drug free workplace."

"SpaceX personnel may not use or posses any controlled substance while in the workplace, and also may not be under the influence of legal or illegal drugs while at work," Musk warned in the email. "Anyone who appears to be inebriated or under the influence while at work is subject to drug testing and potentially other employment actions."

Blunt Questions

After Musk's Rogan appearance, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine criticized Musk for promoting an unprofessional environment at SpaceX.

"As an agency, we’re not just leading ourselves, but our contractors as well," Bridenstine told the Post in a November 2018 interview. "We need to show the American public that when we put an astronaut in a rocket, they’ll be safe."

READ MORE: Boeing faced only ‘limited’ safety review from NASA, while SpaceX got a full examination [The Washington Post]

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