Elon Musk ‘space karen’ insult projected onto deserted Twitter HQ

A projection on Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on 17 November, 2022 (Twitter/ screengrab)

A stream of insults aimed at new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been projected onto the company’s San Francisco headquarters after workers were locked out of their offices.

Insults included “supreme parasite”, “mediocre manchild”, “worthless billionaire” and “space karen”, according to footage posted online.

Another projection pointed to the signage on Twitter’s headquarters with the words “Musk’s hellscape”.

An NBC Bay Area reporter at the scene attributed the stunt to someone describing themself as a “projection activist”. A video of the projection has been viewed more than 8 million times on Twitter.

It comes amid a tumultuous time for the social media platform, with roughly half of all staff laid off in the wake of Mr Musk’s $44 billion takeover. Those remaining were forced by the billionaire to agree to an “extremely hardcore” ultimatum if they wished to continue working.

Mr Musk set a deadline of 5pm ET (10pm GMT) on Thursday for employees to confirm their commitment to work “long hours at high intensity” to build “Twitter 2.0”.

After the deadline passed, Twitter employees were informed that all office buildings would be temporarily closed, though no specific reason was given for the decision.

“Effective immediately, we are temporarily closing our office buildings and all badge access will be suspended,” a message to staff reportedly stated.

“Thank you for your flexibility. Please continue to comply with company policy by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere. We look forward to working with you on Twitter’s exciting future.”