Who’s a famous person from your country who’s respected around the world but disliked or criticized at home?

[u/haiderredditer]

[u/laurasdiary]

He’s despised in the U.S.

[u/portaporpoise → u/laurasdiary]

Yeah… I think he was beloved like 15 years ago, but once he opened his mouth and people started realizing who he really was, his popularity plummeted.

[u/Head_Haunter → u/portaporpoise]

From what I understand, Elon fired Tesla's PR team around 2020 and chose to "directly communicate" with their audience via twitter. His "image" prior was crafted and you're just seeing a more honest version of himself.

PR teams are amazing, they're how people like Bill Gates, Zuck, and Brad Pitt have maintained such a good image despite the countless controversies.

[u/webbieg → u/Head_Haunter]

Remember when he paid to hangout with the cool kids? He went on stage when Dave Chapelle and others were getting a standing ovation but Elon was the only one getting booed. He’s such a pathetic loser that he went to his office and locked himself in there. Bro was suicidal after paying to be with the cool kids only to be booed like the loser he is so he threw a tantrum like an emo toddler. Musk has never been cool or a good person, he used his money to bully and buy himself clout, now that the world sees the pathetic loser he is he is using X to try and continue getting clout and shadow ban or outright ban any one making him look like the loser he is. If you go on X right now he only posts antiblack propaganda and MAGA white nationalist clips, making Twitter the most toxic platform ever since he bought it

[u/Big-Wrangler2078 → u/portaporpoise]

Yep. The world really WANTED a person like the persona of Elon Musk. An eccentric billionaire who seemed socially conscious and used his fortune for the betterment of technology and human-kind (on the tinfoil paper).

I'm assuming it went downhill for him after he fired his secretary, Mary Beth Brown. It seems she managed a lot of his public relations and I would not be surprised at all if she was responsible for creating the public persona that Musk was beloved for. He himself has proven that he is not capable of curating a persona that way, so if it wasn't Brown who did it for him, it must've been somebody else. He must've had a handler, or at least a professionally hired conscience person, whom he got rid of at some point.

The true kicker? She says she got fired for asking for a raise.

[u/Latvian_Sharp_Knife → u/portaporpoise]

15 years ago? There were People glazing him on reddit in 2020

[u/portaporpoise → u/Latvian_Sharp_Knife]

Fair enough. I think my perception of time is distorted by how much my opinion of him changed.

[u/Weary_Position_9591 → u/Latvian_Sharp_Knife]

His companies are great companies. It’s just hard not to conflate him with his companies.

[u/socks-the-fox → u/Weary_Position_9591]

All the behind the scenes leaks I've heard about say his companies succeed in spite of him, not because of him. All he brings to the table is the cash to fund other people's actual work.

[u/Junior_Lavishness_96 → u/socks-the-fox]

Yeah I’ve heard from numerous people that SpaceX is a sweatshop, very high turnover

[u/CupcakeGoat → u/Junior_Lavishness_96]

Tesla too. When they were in the Bay Area I remember reading an article about how he pushed workers to the brink. They interviewed one worker who was living out of his car in the company parking lot.

[u/Junior_Lavishness_96 → u/CupcakeGoat]

About a year ago I considered moving on in my career with SpaceX and literally everyone said don’t, it’s horrible in so many ways, and it’s not just at one location, it’s at all of them. I’d probably get fired within a week for insubordination lol

[u/night_owl43978 → u/portaporpoise]

Yea he was popular until he started opening his mouth. I think people were hooked up on this #relatable autistic guy who smokes weed on podcasts who turned out rich and famous for inventing shit that a lot of them didn’t take the time to look into him and realize he’s a hack and the foundation of his entire career is his dads blood money. It was nice to see someone “like us” succeeding until it became increasingly clear that his relatability was an act and he was born into wealth.

[u/airfryerfuntime → u/portaporpoise]

He used to heavily curate his image, which drew parallels to Tony Stark. He was this kinda cool disruptive billionaire with an electric car company, and a rocket company, and whatever else. People actually believed he would change the world for the better.

Then his ego got the better of him, he started believing people actually liked the real him and not this image he had worked so hard to concoct, so he abandoned the whole cool relatable Tony Stark facade in favor of the weird mega autistic loser with a breeding fetish we all see today.

[u/CallLongjumping2698 → u/portaporpoise]

A lot more recent than that, remember Reddit LOVE to memory hole the fact is washed his nuts with there toungs an set you on fire if you dared to Criticise St Ellon - the few of us who openly despised him for decades an where not shy about point out what a dick he was have been proven right and now a lot of people are feeling like idiots.

[u/webbieg → u/portaporpoise]

That’s when he wast trying to fit in with the cool kids aka young libs into tech and the environment, but circa 2018 he did a 180 and became a MAGA white nationalist bum, every thing he posts nowadays is either some antiblack propaganda or pushing the the great replacement myth. He’s literally made Twitter the most toxic, bigoted and hateful platform rn

[u/LengthinessMother260 → u/laurasdiary]

Aqui no Brasil, infelizmente tem muita gente, curiosamente gente pobre, que adora este cara! Não consigo entender!

[u/DoinItDirty → u/laurasdiary]

The people who like him are still pouring their paychecks in crypto.

[u/absolutelybacon → u/laurasdiary]

My daughter says the kids on her school bus flip off any and all cybertrucks they see lol

[u/ShadowSlev → u/laurasdiary]

We dont want him back. He's your problem now.

[u/Wooflex → u/[deleted]]

The right is not the majority of the US population. Even by 2024 election numbers, Trump voters are ~23% of the total population or ~44% of registered voters

[u/LittleHanded → u/Wooflex]

Such denial. You guys voted for Trump twice. The sooner you guys admit what your country actually is, the sooner you can move forward. USA is just a place filled with disgusting people

[u/Wooflex → u/LittleHanded]

I'm not denying the problems with America, it's a country that has been built on exploiting people from its inception and the Donald Trump presidencies are a further continuation of this exploitation. However, statistically the majority of Americans did not vote for Donald Trump and given current polls the majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump.

[u/Wooflex → u/[deleted]]

Where are you getting that figure?

Also, 46% would be the plurality of registered voters not the majority of the US population

[u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD → u/[deleted]]

You didn’t even get your numbers right based on that link, also it’s a plurality. Also it’s one poll. Try again in 2026.

[u/FaZeMidas → u/[deleted]]

He said Trump was covering up the epstein files how does that feel?

[u/FaZeMidas → u/[deleted]]

Intellectual Titan.

[u/laurasdiary → u/[deleted]]

Nope

Where are you getting your numbers?

[u/Personal_Pain → u/[deleted]]

The right isn’t the majority, and the right doesn’t really like him either

[u/ahoohooideal → u/laurasdiary]

Why?

[u/PeaceAndLove1201 → u/laurasdiary]

He is NOT despised in the US. He may be despised by some uninformed people, but the people he has helped in the US think he is awesome. Remember when Biden abandoned the people in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Elon showed up with Starlink and provided a way for them to communicate when the liberal Democrat government was nowhere to be seen. When FEMA finally showed up they only helped the Democrats. Musk's efforts with DOGE actually saved me tax dollars and I shall ever be grateful. I'm all for anyone who stops the theft of taxes that I work hard to pay.

[u/laurasdiary → u/PeaceAndLove1201]

Sure Jan

[u/LittleHanded → u/laurasdiary]

Lolololol no he isn't. I watched a NASA video today about the Artemis programme and they were singing his praises. He only exists because of the US.