The billionaire entrepreneur counseled CNBC’s “ace reporting” after the outlet was duped by pranksters
Tesla CEO and Twitter proprietor Elon Musk took pictures on the mainstream media after males posing as newly-fired Twitter staff tricked reporters, with not less than two retailers taking the bait earlier than quietly enhancing their tales.
The pair of pranksters have been seen milling round Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters with containers in hand on Friday, figuring out themselves to journalists as ‘Rahul Ligma’ and ‘Daniel Johnson’ whereas claiming to be lately sacked software program engineers.
Whereas businesses similar to CNBC and Bloomberg initially lined the story with a straight face, even citing interviews with the 2 males, each retailers later amended their articles to notice that ‘Ligma’ and ‘Johnson’ have been seemingly imposters, eradicating any direct point out of the hoaxers.
Seems “Rahul Ligma” was not truly fired from Twitter, however as an alternative was just a few random dude with a field that acquired CNBC with a Ligma Nuts joke pic.twitter.com/zVoPIf5ker
— greg (@greg16676935420) October 28, 2022
An editor’s be aware added to CNBC’s article states that whereas the boys claimed to be “fired staff of Twitter,” a number of reviews emerged “suggesting it was a hoax.” It stated it was nonetheless unable to verify the identities of the 2 people. After publishing its personal model of the story, Bloomberg later added that Twitter’s inner communications channels had “lit up with suspicion that the departing folks have been enacting a hoax, and weren’t in truth laid off.”
Having formally bought Twitter earlier this week in a large $44 billion buyout deal, Musk took to his newly acquired platform to mock the journalists who fell for the prank, singling out CNBC’s “ace reporting.”
Musk additionally joked that “Ligma Johnson had it coming,” sharing photographs of the 2 ‘fired staff’. He subtly highlighted the word-play meme that impressed the hoax (with ‘Ligma’ meant to sound like ‘lick my…’).
Throughout their interviews with the media, the 2 tricksters made a sequence of off-topic – and at instances nonsensical – statements, with ‘Ligma’ declaring that “Michelle Obama wouldn’t have occurred if Elon Musk owned Twitter.” His companion ‘Johnson’ additionally voiced grave issues about “the way forward for superstar conservatorship,” briefly mentioning early-2000s pop star Brittney Spears earlier than trailing off.
Even earlier than Musk formally took over the social media large, information reviews steered the entrepreneur would search to wash home on the firm, together with a Washington Submit story alleging plans to fireplace as much as 75% of its 7,500 employees. Whereas Musk has denied the cost, insisting there aren’t any mass-terminations within the works, he fired a handful of high executives instantly upon taking management of the agency on Thursday, together with CEO Parag Agrawal.
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