Author Stephen King on Wednesday addressed what he said were rumors about him mocking tech billionaire Elon Musk and being removed from the social platform X.
“I see there’s a rumor going around that I called the Musk-man Trump’s new first lady.” King said in a post on X. “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.”
“Hi Steve!” Musk responded in King’s replies.
The horror book author has long been a critic of President-elect Trump. He once said Trump’s first administration was “scarier” than his novels.
“Short answer to that is yes, I do. I do think it’s scarier,” King said at the time.
King has also been a critic of Musk, clashing with him in 2022 about a report that X, then known as Twitter, would make verified users pay $20 a month to stay verified.
“$20 a month to keep my blue check? F— that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron,” King said in a post on X at the time.
“We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” Musk replied.
Musk developed close ties with Trump during his 2024 bid for the presidency.
The tech billionaire landed a role in the incoming administration alongside former GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), which has an aim to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures” and restructure federal agencies.
The Hill has reached out to X and the Trump transition team for comment.