--- title: "Former Tesla Exec Says Elon Musk Can Be Like a “Toddler” Having a “Tantrum”" description: "An ex-Tesla executive has unloaded on her former boss Elon Musk, who, according to her, used to transform into another person when he got mad." date: "2022-10-21" modified: "2022-10-21" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-toddler-tantrums" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Former Tesla Exec Says Elon Musk Can Be Like a “Toddler” Having a “Tantrum” ![An ex-Tesla executive has unloaded on her former boss Elon Musk, who, according to her, used to transform into another person when he got mad.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Regression Session An ex-Tesla executive has unloaded on her former boss, CEO Elon Musk, who, according to her, used to transform into an entirely different person when he got mad. In the *BBC*'s "[The Elon Musk Show]()," a docuseries all about the world's richest man, Tesla's former global head of marketing Colette Bridgman was in tears as she described being mistreated by her ex-boss. On one occasion, when Musk was berating for her for a mistake one of her team members made, she said the CEO began behaving like a "toddler that was having a tantrum about something, or upset about something." "I wasn't seeing Elon — I was seeing this person that was taken by anger," Bridgman said. "It was so bizarre." ## Bad Boy That dressing-down was the third time Musk had ever shouted at Bridgman — and, as it turned out, the last as well, because she resigned from Tesla after working there for 13 years soon after. Before her exit, however, the former executive saw a lot of bad behavior. "There were moments when he would definitely get upset and you heard of him firing people on the spot," she recalled for the *BBC*. "All of that happened." While this is far from the first time we've heard about the allegedly ["toxic" work environment]() Musk is said to foster at his various ventures, Bridgman's admissions that are featured throughout the first three episodes of the *BBC* docuseries are telling, especially given her stature at the company. In the same series, former SpaceX talent chief Dolly Singh [defended Musk's leadership style](), saying that she took "the bad with the good." "If you mess with the recipe," Singh said in the series, "you mess with the magic." But there's arguably very little magical about the way Bridgman was treated by Musk. **More Musk:** [*Tens of Thousands of Idiots Bought Elon Musk's 'Burnt Hair' Perfume and Now It's Sold Out*]() ## 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]()