Great Moments In CNN History: Anchor Deadpans ‘Hairy Balls’ After Elon Musk Changes His X/Twitter Handle

CNN anchor Dana Bash created an instantly-iconic moment when she deadpanned Trump DOGE czar Elon Musk’s new X/Twitter handle — a pun that audibly translates to Hairy Balls.

It all started with a 9-year-old operative for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) named Edward Coristine, who drew attention when Wired magazine reported on him and his online pseudonym “Big Balls.”

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper had a little fun with the name on Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, telling viewers “We begin tonight with Musk and Big Balls!”

Musk and his fans were greatly amused at the wordplay, and Musk paid tribute to both Mr. Balls and the centuries-old grammar school attendance gag that apparently just reached him by changing his handle to Harry Bolz.

Bash did not miss a beat when she reported the news on Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s Inside Politics, leaning into the double-entendre:

DANA BASH: President Trump’s executive actions are sparking a litany of legal challenges and legal losses. Here’s what judges have already put on ice:.

Ending birthright citizenship, DOGE access to some sensitive Treasury data. Freezing federal grants. Loans. Cutting NIH funding, Buyout offer for federal employees. Putting USAID employees on leave. Transferring Transgender Prisoners. Firing Government Ethics. Ethics Watchdog. Publicly disclosing FBI staff involved in January 6th probes.

Now, the disruptor in chief, Elon Musk, who apparently has adopted the alias, at least he changed his social media handle to Hairy Balls, tweeted this morning, “Democracy in America is being destroyed by a judicial coup. An activist judge is not a real judge.”

And as for the commander in chief, President Trump made his stance known yesterday.

Musk somehow managed to avoid spontaneously combusting with glee at the development, tweeting the clip several times and falsely claiming he “Made them say my name”:

Made them say my name 🤣🤣
pic.twitter.com/bSTHB9ttVa

— Harry Bōlz (@elonmusk) February 11, 2025

In fact, news anchors frequently refuse to say things they find obscene or otherwise objectionable — Bash clearly made a choice, and CNN history was made.

Watch above via CNN’s Inside Politics.