--- title: "Rick and Morty Fans Now Embarrassed by Elon Musk’s “Cringe” Cameo" description: "The \"Rick and Morty\" fandom seems to have turned against Elon Musk in the three years since his cameo, where he played a tusked version of himself." date: "2022-12-07" modified: "2022-12-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/rick-and-morty-elon-musk-cameo" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "cartoon" - "elon musk" - "rick and morty" - "the digest" --- # Rick and Morty Fans Now Embarrassed by Elon Musk’s “Cringe” Cameo ![The "Rick and Morty" fandom seems to have turned against Elon Musk in the three years since his cameo, where he played a tusked version of himself.]() *\Image: Adult Swim via YouTube / Futurism\* ## Tusk, Tusk You know things are going poorly when the "Rick and Morty" stans turn against you, which is what appears to have happened over at the show's subreddit, where fans of the adult cartoon noted in a recent thread that Elon Musk's cameo two years ago now feels "cringe." "This cameo hits differently now," [one user posted]() in the subreddit, accompanied by a still from the episode about "Elon Tusk," the alternate dimension character [Musk voiced in 2019]() in the episode "One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty." In the appearance, "Elon Tusk" is the CEO of "Tuskla." Because of his insecurities surrounding his larger-than-average tusks, which Tusk-Musk describes as posing "social challenges" that he had to overcome and thus became more self-assured, the character is portrayed as more prone to collaboration than regular-world Musk, who can be — as titular character Rick Sanchez notes — a "little bit controlling." ## Cringe-o-Meter While there's unsurprisingly [some overlap]() between the Musk and "Rick and Morty" fandoms, it appears that the free thinkers who once [spent a summer storming McDonalds locations]() in search of Szechuan sauce are less Elon-agnostic than one might expect. "They actually land a couple good jabs at him, but seeing as it is actually him... you know he had just like, the biggest boner that he was on the show," [one user responded](). "Everyone thinks they're a Rick, but we all just turn out to be Jerry," the same user continued, seeming to compare Musk to [Jerry Smith](), the guileless father figure of the show. Several other users concurred that the cameo "[didn't hit that great at the time either]()," calling it "[cringe]()" and even a "[shameless cash grab]()." "I remember thinking, 'god, not this piece of shit,'" [another user added](). Say what you will of "Rick and Morty" fans — they at least don't support, as a community, whatever the hell is going on with Musk amid his latest venture as the hapless [owner of Twitter](). **More on the Elon-verse:** [*Elon Musk Reportedly Building "Sad Hotel Rooms" at Twitter HQ for Exhausted Employees*]() ## 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]()