Elon Musk Has Two-Word Kiss Off When Jimmy Fallon Asks If He Can ‘Fix’ #RIPJimmyFallon Trend
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon asked Twitter owner Elon Musk to “fix” a trending hashtag on Wednesday, getting just a two-word reply from the CEO.
In what CNN called a “disturbing trend” on Twitter, users tweeted various fake messages Tuesday night into Wednesday morning pushing the hashtag #RIPJimmyFallon to the top of the trending list.
The trending topic likely started with a tweet using the mildly, morbidly popular trend of offering condolences or a RIP message using one person’s name and another person’s photo. In this case, a pic of fellow late-night talker James Corden with the #RIPJimmyFallon hashtag.
There were other notable twists on the genre that got some pick-up.
After the original tweet author noticed the massive retweets and hashtag, they commented to reassure all that it was just a joke.
But comic Jimmy Fallon asked for the joke to be stopped.
Musk responded simply with the words “Fix what?”
It’s not actually clear what “fix” Fallon was suggesting – or whether he was even serious in his request. Equally unclear is whether Musk’s question was an actual inquiry or a joke.
The Hollywood Reporter described the trending “supposed joke” as “scurrilous” on Wednesday, and Deadline referred to the joke about Fallon, whose Twitter bio says “astrophysicist,” as a “hoax.” Business Insider’s overwrought headline was: “Elon Musk — who said Twitter would be the ‘most accurate’ — apparently snubs Jimmy Fallon’s plea to stop #RIPJimmyFallon from trending.”
Trending topics with fake celebrity death messages are a long-standing tradition on Twitter, frequently hitting the top of trending topics, and would usually, eventually feature a description from Twitter noting that the celebrity was in fact still alive.
Big reactions from news organizations are a newer development that has coincided with Musk purchasing the company. A number of Twitter oddities and irritants that have existed for years have likewise become important and “disturbing” in the last month or so.
Mysteriously.
