Grimes has said she is “happy to denounce Nazism” after her former partner Elon Musk was accused of giving a “Nazi salute” during an inauguration celebration for Donald Trump.
The world’s richest man was hit with a wave of immediate outrage online after he gave a salute that many felt resembled the infamous Nazi gesture during his speech at Capitol One Arena on Monday (January 20).
That outrage extended to his former partner Grimes. The Canadian musician, 36, shares three children with the 53-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
On Musk’s social media platform, X, one fan wrote that she was preparing to unfollow Grimes and cover up a tribute tattoo because of the incident.
In a reply to the tweet, Grimes distanced herself from the controversy, writing: “While I deeply respect your concern – it’s unhealthy that people are so upset when I haven’t even been online yet today and am only just learning about this controversy now.. I don’t know what happened and I don’t want to make a hasty statement.”
She continued: “It’s absurd that someone can be so put off by something their ex did before they even heard it happened. I’m not him. I’m not going to speak out every time he does something. I can only send love back to a world that hurts.”
Asked by another user to clarify his political stance, Grimes added: “I’m happy to denounce Nazism – and the far right. Would that help clear things up?”
She added: “I’ve just got out of breakfast and I’m catching a flight and I’m still debating how to approach things diplomatically because I feel in over my head. But if there’s any concern about it, I’m happy to put the record [sic] in a meaningful way. If I don’t answer for another 5 hours, it’s because there is no wifi on my flight.”
Musk himself has responded to the controversy, but did not directly deny that he was imitating a fascist salute when he twice shot his right arm in an angle direction, palm down. Instead, he said his critics needed “better dirty tricks” because it’s “sooo tired” to attack their political opponents like Adolf Hitler.
Historians of fascism and neo-Nazism have also weighed in on Musk’s speech, saying they believed Musk’s gesture was a “sieg heil” and that viewers “should believe your eyes.” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, added: “Historians of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too.”