Elon Musk issued a curt rebuke of ketamine abuse allegations after a viral clip of his erratic behavior at a dinner recirculated online.
The clip—taken in March during a visit to President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey—shows Musk balancing spoons at a dinner table while one of his baby mamas, Shivon Zilis, watches in silent concern.
At the time, X user and “retired army medic” Molly Ploofkins tweeted the clip with the caption, “Musk playing with his silverware while tripping on ketamine at Bedminster.”
Amid an explosive New York Times report accusing Musk of using drugs as his Department of Government Efficiency bulldozed its way across the federal government, computer scientist and writer Paul Graham attempted to normalize the clip with a tweet insisting that he does the same with his silverware.
Responding to the original clip, Graham tweeted, “You don’t need ketamine to make these. I always make them. In our family we call them ‘Robert towers,’ after Robert Morris, who also makes them.”
The remark elicited a visceral response from Musk: “I’m not on ketamine ffs,” he wrote.
Graham responded under his comment, “That’s what I’m saying. Making cutlery towers isn’t evidence that someone’s on drugs. You could take an identical video of me at a dinner.”
As Trump bid adieu to Musk in a Friday press conference—in which the president insisted “Elon is not really leaving”—the Tesla CEO shut down questions about the Times report.
“Is The New York Times the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate—is it the same organization?” Musk said. “I think the judge just ruling against The New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax and that they might have to give back that Pulitzer Prize. That New York Times? Let’s move on!”
Yet Musk’s fierce denials contradict what he has publicly said and tweeted about using ketamine to counter his “brain chemistry.”
In a tweet posted Aug. 4, 2023, Musk responded to Nigerian rapper Zuby’s concerns about antidepressants with his own take.
“I have serious concerns about SSRIs, as they tend to zombify people,” he wrote. “Occasional use of Ketamine is a much better option, in my opinion. I have a prescription for when my brain chemistry sometimes goes super negative.”
“SSRIs” refers to “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,” the class of antidepressants that includes Prozac and Zoloft.
Musk echoed such sentiments again a year later in an interview with journalist Don Lemon, admitting to the former CNN host that he takes a “small amount” of ketamine to treat depression.
“There are times when I have a sort of … negative chemical state in my brain,” he explained. “Ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind.”
