--- title: "Elon Musk Finally Relents and Apologizes for Mocking Disabled Twitter Ex-Employee" description: "After dragging an ex-Twitter employee, Elon Musk has apologized to Haraldur Thorleifsson after disparaging him so publicly." date: "2023-03-08" modified: "2023-03-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-apologizes-disability" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "Disability" - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Finally Relents and Apologizes for Mocking Disabled Twitter Ex-Employee ![After dragging an ex-Twitter employee, Elon Musk has apologized to Haraldur Thorleifsson after disparaging him so publicly.]() *\Image: Anadolu via Getty / Futurism\* ## Say Sorry After [dragging an ex-Twitter employee]() and then [deleting some of the evidence](), Elon Musk has apologized to Haraldur Thorleifsson after disparaging him publicly in front of his over 100 million followers. The entire debacle began earlier this week when Thorleifsson, whose [Ueno creative agency was acquired by Twitter in 2021](), [tweeted]() at Musk asking if he'd been let go from the company because, [as the Icelander explained](), nobody from human resources gave him a straight answer. What ensued was a new low even for Musk: the CEO became embroiled in a back-and-forth tweet exchange with Thorleifsson in which he [accused the ex-employee]() of using his muscular dystrophy diagnosis to avoid doing work and called his onetime subordinate "the worst" [in a since-deleted tweet](). Now, Musk has changed his tune after [claiming to have spoken to Thorleifsson](), who goes by the nickname "Halli," and appears to have offered the former design director his job back. "I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation," [the Twitter CEO tweeted](). "It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter." ## Liability While this apology and Musk's previous comments suggest that he'd been misled about Thorleifsson and his role by others at the company, [lots]() [of]() [critics]() noted that there [could be legal implications]() for the billionaire's derisive commentary. "Surely, Elon Musk wouldn’t lay off Iceland’s Man of the Year, troll him for asking whether he has, in fact, been laid off; paint him as an already-rich, money-grubbing disability faker, in a possible violation of \[the Americans with Disability Act\]; and then blame others for misleading him," [*Bloomberg* editor Craig Trudell tweeted]() with a heavy dose of irony. "He’s a serious guy." We've reached out to both Thorleifsson and Twitter's communications team for comment, though we don't expect a response from the latter considering that [Musk disbanded it](), [as is his custom](), shortly after taking over the site. Regardless of his reasoning, apologizing was undeniably the right thing for Musk to do — though of course, it would have been much better had he not dragged a former employee through the mud in the first place. **More on Elon:** [*Elon Musk's Bodyguards Reportedly Accompanying Him to the Bathroom at Twitter HQ*]() ## 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]()