Elon Musk faces racism allegations after he criticized the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “The Odyssey.”
Helen is a figure in Greek mythology who didn’t exist as a real person. But she was considered “the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Helen’s beauty was so legendary that she was known as “the face that launched a thousand ships.”
Some people are upset that Lupita, an African American, plays Helen of Troy. One X user posted an image of Lupita from the film. He wrote: “This face couldn’t launch half a row boat, let alone 1,000 ships.”
Elon responded “True” to a tweet by right-wing commentator Matt Walsh, who wrote, “Not one person on the planet actually thinks that Lupita Nyong’o is ‘the most beautiful woman in the world.'”
Matt added that filmmaker “Christopher Nolan knows that he would be called racist if he gave ‘the most beautiful woman’ role to a white woman. Nolan is technically talented but a coward. Too afraid to do anything that even slightly challenges the spirit of the age.”
Matt wrote in a follow-up tweet:
“We’re told that we shouldn’t object to Helen of Troy being portrayed as a black woman. And yet if a major Hollywood studio made a film set in Africa and cast a white woman as ‘the most beautiful woman in Africa,’ those same people would literally riot in the street. If, say, Sydney Sweeney was cast in the role, they’d be driven to murderous violence. We all know this is the case.”
Elon responded “Absolutely true. Such hypocrisy in Hollywood.”
Actor Alec Baldwin responded to Elon for commenting on Lupita’s looks.
“Dear Elon… but she IS the most beautiful woman in the world… Alec,” he wrote.
Elon also criticized the casting of transgender actor Elliot Page, who was plays Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, in the film. Elon, who has male-to-female child, retweeted posts mocking Elliot Page’s masculinity.
The controversy has only sparked more interest in The Odyssey.
Elon Musk stokes woke war over Christopher Nolan's casting of Lupita N'yongo and trans actor Elliot Page in The Odyssey https://t.co/088wi0fa5E
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) May 16, 2026