Earlier this week, a number of posts went viral after claiming that Elon Musk has banned horror author Stephen King from X. King had reportedly mocked Musk by referring to him as President-elect Donald Trump's "first lady." The posts claimed that Musk banned King in retaliation.
However, the claim is completely false. King also clarified on his own X account that neither the "first lady" comment nor the ban occurred, adding, "Yet here I am," as he assured his fans that he was quite active on X. Moreover, a search on Google News also failed to show any reports of Musk banning King's account on X for any reason.
The Baseless Claim
One of the viral posts on X wrote, "So the First Lady Elon Musky banned Stephen King because he called him the First Lady. I guess Musky's big play about free speech on Twitter or X-rated bizarre land doesn't apply if hurts your wittle feewings." Another user praised King for supposedly trolling Musk.
Although King has previously criticized both Musk and Trump, he remains active on X and had not been banned from the platform at the time of writing. King debunked the rumor on his official X account, so the claim can be labeled 'false'.
A search of King's X account found no "first lady" post about Musk, though he has often spoken out against Musk and Trump.
In a post from November 3, 2024, King wrote, "The Musk-man has posted 3,000 times on Twitter in the last month. Most are pro-Trump disinformation and outright lies. Remember, he has skin in the game. Consider his posts accordingly."
King a Musk Critic but Claim Is False
A day before the election, on Nov. 4, 2024, King wrote on X, "Last tweet from me (probably not from the Musk-Man) before Election Day: IF YOU LOVE DEMOCRACY, PLEASE VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS."
Moreover, on Wednesday, King himself took to X and rubbished the claim about being banned from X on his verified account: "I see there's a rumor going around that I called the Musk-man Trump's new first lady. I didn't, but only because I didn't think of it. There's also a rumor going around that Muskie kicked me off Twitter. Yet here I am."
The rumor began circulating after Trump chose Musk to lead a U.S. commission called the "Department of Government Efficiency." On TruthSocial, Trump said that the department's goal was to "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies."
This isn't the first instance of a false rumor about Musk banning King from X. In July 2024, a satirical Facebook post falsely claimed that King had been permanently banned from the platform for trolling Musk.
