Robert De Niro Knocks Elon Musk At 'Musk' Documentary Screening

Robert De Niro introduced Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour documentary "Musk" at a screening for Academy members at the Crosby Hotel in Manhattan on Sunday, using the occasion to criticize Elon Musk's political spending. According to The Independent and HuffPost, De Niro told the audience that Musk spent about $300 million getting Donald Trump elected in 2024 and "just spent close to half a billion on Republicans in this past week's election. How did that turn out for you?" The remarks drew laughter and cheers. De Niro noted that Musk had pumped at least $446 million into the Republican campaign, according to The Independent, while Yahoo reported the figure as around $445 million. HuffPost said Musk donated $276 million between July and early October, a number that reportedly grew to $500 million. Democrats gained control of both the House and Senate in what outlets described as a "bluenami" and a "massive electoral repudiation of Trump and Trumpism." De Niro added, "In the fight between Musk's money and democracy, democracy won. This time. But just like his grotesque Cybertruck, Musk isn't going anywhere." He also referenced Musk's announcement on X that Tesla would end production of the Cybertruck. Jane Rosenthal, De Niro's fellow Tribeca Festival founder, joined him at the event and said the film exposes "Musk the man" and that "we cannot look away." Gibney, an Oscar-winning documentarian, thanked De Niro "for all you have done for all of the resistance." The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September to a five-minute standing ovation. Musk has called the documentary a "hit piece that misses" and said Gibney has "zero integrity" and that his "movies are boring af." The documentary includes an interview with Musk's ex, former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair, and Gibney said at a Venice press conference that people he approached about the film had a "tremendous sense of fear" that was "existential."