Elon Musk Tells Wizards to “Burn in Hell” And Ponders Buying Hasbro
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Notorious billionaire Elon Musk recently took to the app formerly known as Twitter and told Hasbro to “burn in hell” following the publication of their recent historical retrospective The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons. The book includes a forward which Musk found to be offensive to D&D co-creator Gary Gygax, despite the fact that the entire volume is essentially a celebration of the life and legacy of Gygax and his fellow creators.
In a further escalation of the flame war, Musk later posted a comment on Twitter/X hinting that he was interested in purchasing Hasbro, although as with many posts from the controversial businessman, it’s not clear if this is actually something he is seriously considering.
So is this something that D&D fans should be concerned about? Below, we break out all the details.
What did Elon Musk have to say about D&D?
Musk’s original comment was a response to a Tweet from former gaming executive turned right-wing pundit Mark Kern (also known as online as “Grummz”) who heavily criticized the forward written by longtime D&D designer Jason Tondro that appears in the The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons. Tondro’s introduction briefly discusses the historical context of the formative days of Dungeons & Dragons and content which may be considered sexist and racist by today’s readers.
Kern stated that this acknowledgment from Tondro both “erased and slandered” Gary Gygax and other early contributors to D&D (mistakenly listing the game as celebrating its “40th Anniversary”, when in fact it is the 50th anniversary of D&D). He also called out both the new 2024 Player’s Handbook and 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide as part of the so-called erasure and slender of Gygax.
In response to Kern, Musk wrote “Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the f*** is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC??” May they burn in hell.” Notably it has been reported that Musk was a D&D fan in his youth, but it’s not clear when the last time he played the game.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2024
What the fuck is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC?? May they burn in hell.
Is Musk’s criticism of Wizards of the Coast legitimate?
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons is essentially a celebration of the work and life of Gary Gygax, so is hardly something that’s critical of the legendary TTRPG creator. In fact, it’s filled with numerous letters, early drafts and rules sets that have been painstakingly assembled to show Gygax’s thought processes and contribution to the hobby.
Additionally, both Gygax and Arneson are credited in the new 2024 Player’s Handbook and 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. The exact credit reads: “Building on the original game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and then developed by many others over the past 50 years.” Wizards of the Coast also regularly collaborates with Gygax’s youngest son Luke Gygax and is a participant at Gary Con, a convention held in Gygax’s honor.
The exact passage from Jason Tondro in The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons which Musk and Kern take umbrage with is as follows:
Some language in the first iteration of D&D presents a moral quandary. The documents reproduced in this book include many pages of charts and tables alongside lists of monsters, spells, and magic items. But that game content also includes a virtual catalog of insensitive and derogatory language, words that are casually hurtful to anyone with a physical or mental disability, or who happens to be old, fat, not conventionally attractive, indigenous, Black, or a woman.”
Some people have charitably ascribed this language to authors working from bad assumptions. In the 1970s, historical wargamers in America were predominately white, middle-class men; it isn’t surprising that they would dub a class of soldiers the ‘fighting-man.’ But when, in the pages of Greyhawk, the description of the Queen of Chaotic Dragons includes a dig at ‘Women’s Lib,’ the misogyny is revealed as a conscious choice. It’s an unfortunate fact that women seldom appear in original D&D, and when they do, they’re usually portrayed disrespectfully.
Slavery appears in original D&D not as a human tragedy that devastated generations over centuries, but as a simple commercial transaction. The cultural appropriation of original D&D ranges from the bewildering (like naming every 6th-level cleric a ‘lama’) to the staggering; Gods, Demi-gods and Heroes (not reprinted in this book) includes game statistics for sacred figures revered by more than a billion people around the world. Were players expected to fight Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, kill him, and loot his ‘plus 3 sword of demon slaying’?”
Despite these shortcomings, D&D has always been a game about people choosing to be someone unlike themselves and collaborating with strangers who become friends. It has slowly become more inclusive, and as the player base has become more diverse, the pool of creators who make the game has expanded to include people with a broader range of identities and backgrounds. As these new creators make the game more welcoming, the game has attracted new fans who, in turn, continue to make the game more inclusive. The future of Dungeons & Dragons, here at its fiftieth anniversary, is bright.
What has the Gygax family said about Musk’s comments?
In the wake of Musk’s comments, Gary Gygax’s daughter Heidi Gygax Garland responded on Facebook saying: “Regarding the post by Ben Riggs “D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax was Sexist” IMO much seems to be taken out of context and pieced together. I cannot verify the sources, although I truly believe they are incomplete and/or incorrect. I think Frank Mentzer states his insights on this eloquently. As for my perspective, I do not believe my father was racist or misogynistic. Was he sexist? He was born in 1938 to a father born in the 1880’s and a mother born in 1906. He was raised in a traditional Anglo-Saxon Protestant family with traditional biblical family values where the male was the head of the household. In my adult opinion, yes, this is sexist and doesn’t hold up to our more enlightened standards today. Yet, he was a loving father and husband who valued all of his children and his wife. All 3 of his daughters played D&D with him at some point, but I happen to be the only one who still plays. In short, he wasn’t perfect, but he was far from all of the negative accusations that are (re) surfacing, and I’m extremely proud – as a strong, independent female – to have E. Gary Gygax as my father and my family legacy.”
Is Elon Musk serious about purchasing Hasbro?
Following the original post from Musk telling Wizards of the Coast to “burn in hell,” Musk responded to a screenshot of private Facebook post from Jason Tondro discussing the controversy. At that time Musk replied “How much is Hasbro?”
Although it’s likely that Musk is joking, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. In fact, in December 2017 Musk similarly enquired “How much is it?” in regards to Twitter before proceeding to purchasing the social media platform. He later tried to back out of the deal, but was forced to buy Twitter for $44 billion in June 2022. Current estimates by investment firm Fidelity put the value of Twitter/X at 80% less than when he bought it, with a worth of only about $9.4 billion.
Hasbro’s estimated capitalization is currently $8.71 billion, with $3.95 billion of debt, so it’s unlikely that Musk would seriously invest invest that much into purchasing the company, although even the possibility has worried many longtime fans.
How much is Hasbro?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2024
Final Thoughts
It’s ironic that Musk, Kerns and other detractors claim that a book which is essentially an homage to the of the work of Gary Gygax is somehow denigrating his name. Unfortunately, in an era of culture wars, this type of discussion is ripe fodder and Musk has increasingly leaned into right-wing talking points in recent years, often amplifying misinformation.
It’s also unlikely the Musk would or could buy Hasbro, both given his current financial resources and what he’s done with Twitter/X (both as a platform and a business). In fact, in a related story from Polygon, it was reported that numerous tabletop creators are migrating to Bluesky, the new social media platform which is an increasing rival to Twitter.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
