Elon Musk has walked back some of his comments regarding Haraldur Þorleifsson, better known as Halli, after a contentious exchange yesterday, March 7.
Twitter layoffs
The exchange followed Halli’s termination at Twitter during the latest in the large-scale layoffs since Mr. Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform. After he was locked out of his work accounts, Halli was unable to get a clear statement from Twitter HR about the status of his employment. He opted instead to contact Mr. Musk directly over social media.
In the ensuing thread, Mr. Musk cast doubt on Halli’s disability, and accused Halli of not working.
I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2023
He is considering remaining at Twitter.
A partial apology
Following his statements, however, Mr. Musk has walked back some of his statements.
In the wake of the exchange, Mr. Musk stated: “I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter.”
Some commentators have also pointed out that identifying Halli’s disability publicly violates American labour laws.
While not all details of the Ueno sale were made public, Halli purposely chose to receive the sale price as wages in order to pay higher tax on it in Iceland. Likely due to this arrangement, Halli was reportedly on a “do not fire list” at the social media company. If Halli is indeed terminated, Twitter is likely still obligated to pay him out.
At the time of writing, it is unclear whether Halli will remain at Twitter.
Halli has called the entire exchange “surreal” on social media.
