Barry Diller said he witnessed Elon Musk’s popularity firsthand at the US Open in 2024 — but less than a year later, it’s a different story.
The public’s perception of Musk has had a major shift since Donald Trump won the presidential election, Expedia Group chairman Diller said during Monday’s episode of the “On with Kara Swisher” podcast.
The pair sat in the same luxury box to watch the US Open men’s singles final match in September, where Diller said he was “amazed” by Musk’s celebrity.
“A third of the faces in that audience were looking at him and not at this champ game that was taking place,” the 83-year-old said.
He recalled hundreds of people gathering to take pictures and ask for Musk’s signature during a break in the game.
Eight months, one election, and a controversial plan to cut government spending later, Diller says an appearance like that wouldn’t play out the same way it did last year.
“If today he was in that box, they’d throw tomatoes at him,” Diller said. “It’s only September to May. I’ve never seen anything as swift as that.”
Neither Musk nor representatives for Expedia Group immediately responded to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Musk set out to cut $2 trillion in government spending with his involvement in the White House DOGE office, and he’s faced backlash since then in the form of protests and movements like Tesla Takedown. Such resistance has made it harder to execute his plans, he told reporters during an April Q&A session.
“Being attacked is not super fun,” Musk said. “Seeing cars on fire is not fun.”
Diller, who cofounded the Fox TV network with Rupert Murdoch, previously said Musk has “a form of megalomania” and backed Trump out of bitterness toward the Democrats in October. He doubled down on Monday, telling Swisher that Musk is entitled to his megalomania, but it has its consequences.
“I personally like him,” Diller said. “Unfortunately if you are a megalomaniac, your tuning fork ear is lost, and he lost it.”
Enter the proverbial tomatoes prompted by Musk’s slashes to government spending through DOGE, Diller said.
His advice? Work to eliminate government waste “with a thoughtful, kind hand” instead of a “chainsaw.”
