Canadian pop artist Grimes is speaking out amid a firestorm of criticism leveled at her ex-boyfriend Elon Musk following his controversial hand gesture at President Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday.
Musk, arguably Trump’s most influential ally and a confidante, ended his speech at one of Monday’s inaugural celebrations by twice using a one-armed gesture that resembled the Roman salute adopted by the Nazis.
On Tuesday, Grimes responded to Musk’s headline-making actions in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter.
“It’s absurd that someone can be this cancelled for something their ex did before they even heard it happened,” she wrote in part, responding to a fan who pledged to have their Grimes-themed tattoo covered up in the wake of Musk’s gesture.
“I am not him. I will not make a statement every time he does something,” she explained. “I can only send love back into a world that is hurting.”
In a second post, Grimes acknowledged she was “still debating how to approach things diplomatically,” stating: “I’m happy to denounce Nazi-ism – and the far alt right. Would that help clear things up?”
For his part, Musk shrugged off the Nazi comparisons later on Monday, noting on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
The Anti-Defamation League, along with many prominent Republicans, have also attempted to defend the Tesla billionaire.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is among those who feel the gesture’s implications shouldn’t be minimized.
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“This is the United States of America. And I don’t care what Elon Musk is doing behind a presidential seal. In this country, we hate Nazis,” she said in a video posted to Instagram. “Kind of like a foundational, defining thing.”
Grimes, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, was in a relationship with Musk for about three years before they split in 2021. The former couple share three children.
Since the split, Grimes has taken steps to distance herself from her ex, describing him as “unrecognizable” on X last fall following a contentious battle over custody of their children, one of which she said she hadn’t seen for five months.