In a twist that feels more like the plot of a late-night sketch than real life, tech mogul Elon Musk is reportedly summoning his legal team to launch an all-out assault against the creators of Saturday Night Live—and the man at the center of the comedic storm, Mike Myers. The alleged reason?
A biting impersonation that Musk believes has crossed the line from satire into slander, one that he claims has irreparably damaged his public image and trivialized his role as a global innovator and leader.
The trigger? A recent SNL cold open that imagined a fictionalized meeting in the Oval Office between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. While the sketch already poked fun at international diplomacy, things took a turn for the bizarre when Mike Myers stormed the set dressed head-to-toe as Elon Musk.
Complete with black jeans, a branded graphic T-shirt, and his signature tech-bro blazer, Myers’ Musk swaggered in wielding a prop chainsaw, echoing the very real moment when Musk waved a chainsaw at CPAC just months prior.
“What are you doing in my office?” Myers barked in his best Musk-ian tone. “You know I’m the president now, right?”
The audience roared. The internet lit up. And Elon Musk? He wasn’t laughing.
According to insiders close to the situation, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was “absolutely livid” after watching the sketch. The impersonation didn’t just exaggerate Musk’s quirks—it allegedly mocked his business decisions, questioned his mental stability, and portrayed him as an erratic authoritarian wielding power like a prop weapon.
One line that particularly stung? “They say I’m firing people without cause. But I do have cause—it’s ‘cause I feel like it!” Myers delivered the punchline with manic glee, but Musk didn’t find it funny.
Within hours of the episode airing, Musk took to his platform, X (formerly Twitter), to express his discontent. “Humor fails when it lies,” he posted, a cryptic but unmistakable jab at the sketch. That comment alone would’ve passed as a simple complaint from a man often in the spotlight—but according to sources within Tesla’s upper ranks, that tweet was only the beginning.
“Elon’s not taking this lightly,” one anonymous source claimed. “He feels personally targeted. Not just as a public figure, but as a brand. They didn’t parody an idea of Musk—they went after him, his values, his leadership style. He sees this as defamation wrapped in comedy.”
Musk’s legal team, led by a group of high-profile entertainment and defamation lawyers, is now reportedly exploring all legal avenues against NBCUniversal, the producers of Saturday Night Live, and Mike Myers individually. While lawsuits against satire have historically been difficult to pursue under First Amendment protections, Musk’s team is reportedly building their case around the idea that the sketch intentionally misrepresented factual events, blurred the lines between real and fictionalized behavior, and damaged his reputation in business and politics alike.
“He’s especially furious about the chainsaw bit,” another insider shared. “That moment was a very specific, very real event. To recontextualize it as a sign of madness or aggression in a government setting—he sees that as an intentional smear.”
But not everyone agrees. As Musk’s online discontent gained traction, so too did the backlash. Social media users quickly turned on the billionaire, with many noting the irony of Musk’s outrage just days after he championed “legalizing comedy” in a viral tweet.
“Legalize comedy… unless it’s about Elon,” one user quipped. Another wrote, “They nailed him so perfectly he got triggered. That’s not defamation, that’s performance art.”
Even Myers’ impersonation style—a blend of exaggerated physicality and laser-precise mimicry—was applauded by critics and audiences alike. Some noted that his parody echoed Musk’s real-life public persona more accurately than any past impersonation. The hand gestures. The sudden declarations of authority. The chaotic logic delivered with total conviction.
“It wasn’t just funny,” one tweet read. “It was… documentary-level accuracy.”
And yet, that’s precisely what may form the backbone of Musk’s legal argument. In his view, if an impersonation is too close to reality while also portraying someone in a derogatory light, it stops being parody and starts becoming personal damage.
The fact that Myers claimed in the sketch that Musk had become “president” could also complicate matters, with Musk’s team reportedly arguing that it implies a delusional or authoritarian mindset, potentially affecting investors, collaborators, and regulatory partners who watch these portrayals.
Privately, however, some within Musk’s own camp are concerned that pursuing legal action could backfire. “The last thing we need is to turn this into a free speech showdown,” one advisor warned. “This could easily spiral into Elon becoming the villain of late-night comedy forever.”
Others worry about the potential for a Streisand effect—that by attempting to silence or punish the parody, Musk will only amplify it further. Memes of “President Musk” with chainsaws have already flooded Reddit and Instagram.
Fake campaign posters reading “MUSK 2028: Because Reality Is Overrated” have gone viral. The very image Musk is trying to protect is now being bent, stretched, and turned into an unstoppable internet joke.
Still, for Musk, this may be about more than image management. Sources close to him suggest he feels a genuine moral line was crossed, one that could set a dangerous precedent if left unchallenged. If comedians can blend fact and fiction so seamlessly that audiences can’t tell the difference, what’s to stop future sketches from rewriting public perception entirely?
“He’s thinking long-term,” one confidante noted. “This isn’t just about Mike Myers. It’s about controlling the narrative around tech leaders, especially those as influential as Elon.
He wants boundaries. He wants accountability. He wants to make it clear: even billionaires have limits.”
Whether or not that message will land remains to be seen. SNL has not commented on the brewing legal threat, and Mike Myers has remained characteristically silent. But one thing’s certain—this story has only just begun.
What started as a comedy sketch might now morph into a precedent-setting legal battle over parody, power, and personality in the age of digital culture wars.
As Elon Musk gears up to take on one of the most iconic institutions in American satire, the world watches with popcorn in hand. After all, there’s nothing quite as captivating as a billionaire versus a comedian.
And in this showdown, the punchlines might be just as powerful as the subpoenas.