HAWTHORNE, California (AP) – SpaceX, the rocket company run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has fired several employees involved in an open letter criticizing the colorful billionaire for his behavior, according to media reports.
Reports released Friday quoted an email from SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell as saying the company had fired employees who had gathered and circulated the letter. The authors of the letters denounced Musk for actions he said were a “frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, especially in recent weeks.”
The New York Times was the first media outlet to report the purge, based on information from three employees familiar with the situation. Employees were not appointed.
It’s unclear how many SpaceX workers lost their jobs, but Shotwell left no doubt that the company believed they had crossed an unacceptable line.
“The letter, the requests and the general process made the employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and harassed and / or angry because the letter pressured them to sign something that did not reflect their views,” Shotwell wrote in his email, according to the Times. “We have too much critical work to do and we don’t need that kind of excessive activism.”
The layoffs came on Thursday, the same day Musk first addressed Twitter employees about his $ 44 billion deal to add this social media service to his business empire. The purchase is in limbo as Musk tries to determine if Twitter has hidden the number of fake accounts on its platform.
As the Twitter drama unfolded, another report emerged that Musk had paid $ 250,000 to a flight attendant to cancel a possible sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Musk denied the allegations of sexual harassment and last month Shotwell emailed SpaceX employees saying he believed the allegations were false.
In recent weeks, Musk has also mocked the appearance of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Twitter and posted a poop emoji during an online discussion with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
The open letter from SpaceX employees criticizing Musk claimed that some of its tweets sent to its 98 million followers gave the company a bad light.
“As our CEO and spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX: every tweet Elon sends is a de facto public statement from the company,” the open letter said. “It’s critical to make it clear to our teams and our potential talent group that their message doesn’t reflect our work, our mission or our values.”