Elon Musk's Twitter Spat With Haraldur "Halli" Thorleifsson

Overview

Elon Musk's Twitter Spat With Haraldur "Halli" Thorleifsson refers to a controversy that arose when Twitter employee Haraldur Thorfliesson (known as Halli) claimed he had been locked out of his work account for over a week and publicly asked Elon Musk if he was still employed at the company. Musk initially laughed at the tasks Halli said he did at the company, implied he actually didn't do any work at Twitter, blamed Halli's lack of work on his disability (Halli has muscular dystrophy) and called him "the worst." Musk's comments led to harsh criticism from social media users, with many speculating that Halli could sue Musk for workplace discrimination. Musk later apologized to Halli, saying that he misunderstood Halli's role at Twitter and that Halli would consider staying with the company.

Background

On March 6th, 2023, Haraldur Thorleifsson, aka Halli, tweeted^[1] a public plea to Elon Musk asking him to confirm his employment status at Twitter, as he'd purportedly had access to his work computer blocked for over a week and neither Twitter's HR nor Musk had told him whether he'd been let go from the company (shown below).

Halli began work at Twitter in 2021 after he sold his company Ueno to Twitter.^[2] Halli notably has muscular dystrophy and has campaigned in Iceland for better wheelchair access. He was also named Icelandic "Person of the Year" in 2022 by four Icelandic media outlets.

Developments

In response to Halli's plea on March 6th, 2023, Musk asked Halli what work he had been doing.^[3] Halli offered an extensive list of his responsibilities and accomplishments at Twitter, which Musk publicly doubted in the replies (shown below, left). Replying to a user who screenshotted Musk and Halli's conversation, Musk said of Halli,^[4] "The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that" (shown below, right). Musk also said of Halli, "He's the worst" in a now-deleted tweet.^[2]

Musk's tweets on March 6th led to harsh criticism and the suggestion that he had opened himself up to a lawsuit in the following hours and days. For example, on March 7th, Twitter user @chetfaliszek^[5] called Musk "cruel," a "little man" and an "insecure child" upon reading the pair's ongoing exchange (shown below, left). That same day, user @iridescentaria^[6] opined that Musk's comments had opened him up to a disability discrimination lawsuit (shown below, right).

Later on March 7th, 2023, Musk apologized to Halli publicly,^[7] saying "I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. 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." He also said the two had chatted on a video call (shown below, left). Some also speculated Musk's change in opinion was due to a conversation Musk had had with lawyers.^[8]

In response to the controversy, TikToker @pearlmania500 posted a video on March 7th suggesting Twitter has no HR department and proposed a humorous grift wherein people could say they worked at Twitter on their resume and get away with it since no one at the company would be able to confirm or deny one's employment history there. The TikTok gained over 770,000 likes in less than one day (shown below).

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