Jimmy Kimmel Claps Back at Elon Musk Over Lupita Nyong’o’s ‘The Odyssey’ Casting Drama

Jimmy Kimmel has spoken out strongly after Elon Musk reacted to the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film adaptation of The Odyssey.

The discussion started after Musk posted on X, criticizing the decision to cast Nyong’o in the role. His reaction quickly spread online and sparked debate about the film and its casting choices. Kimmel responded directly on his show and made it clear he disagreed with Musk’s comments.

Kimmel said during his monologue, “Elon Musk is now attacking Christopher Nolan, the film director, for the way he cast the movie ‘The Odyssey.’ He’s upset because Christopher Nolan hired Lupita Nyong’o to play a character he believes should be played by a white woman.”

He then pointed out Musk’s social media post, where Musk claimed Nolan had “desecrated” The Odyssey and questioned rules around awards eligibility. Musk also wrote, “Who specifically is the a–hole who added DEI lies to Academy Awards eligibility instead of it just being about making the best movie?” according to Kimmel’s reading of the post on air.

Kimmel pushed back strongly against that reaction. He compared Musk’s criticism of casting choices to his own well-known dislike of the Tesla Cybertruck design. He said, “That’s a good question. While we’re at it, who specifically is the a–hole who thought this was a cool design for a truck? I mean, stay in your lane.”

The comedian also noted that Musk was not alone in reacting to the casting. He referenced commentary from other media figures who also questioned the decision. One example he showed was Newsmax host Rob Finnerty, who said on air that Helen of Troy was not Black.

Kimmel responded by pointing out that the story itself is not historical fact. According to him, the idea of arguing over the appearance of mythological characters does not make sense. He said, “Helen of Troy was also not real. ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythical poem. There was no Helen of Troy. She was mythical, like Santa Claus or election fraud … It doesn’t matter what color a myth is.”

He continued explaining the mythological background in a simple way, adding, “And if you really want to get into it, Helen of Troy was half bird. Helen was the daughter of Zeus … who disguised himself as a swan so he could mate with a human woman who then laid an egg and out hatched Helen of Troy.” These comments were part of his attempt to highlight how far the story sits from real history.

Kimmel also joked later in the segment that attention should be focused elsewhere in the film. He ended the topic by referring to past jokes about his ongoing “feud” with actor Matt Damon.

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