Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, engaged in a Twitter battle with a worker at the business he currently controls. Musk was interrogated by Haraldur Thorleifsson on whether he was still working for his firm or had been let go after his access to his office computer was cut off.
Musk claimed that Thorleifsson, who goes by Halli, said, “The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm.” This came after a brief Twitter exchange between the employer and his employee went viral.
The Twitter worker has now responded to Musk’s jibe stating that he suffers from muscular dystrophy, Halli tweets, “My legs were the first to go. When I was 25 years old I started using a wheelchair. It’s been 20 years since that happened. During that time the rest of my body has been failing me too. I need help to get in and out of bed and use the toilet”.
“For a long time I thought my arms would remain strong. A doctor told me they would. But they ended up losing strength. Which, I don’t mind telling you, was hard to accept. But you okay the cards you are dealt and I’ve managed to create a wonderful life”, he added.
“Anyway, I digress, are you still reading? Or is the bathroom break over? What was I saying? Ah yes, and then you bought the company and told employees you weren’t firing 75% of them. Which you then did”, he tweeted.”Oh! I forgot to mention that I read you can’t go to the toilet on your own either
@elonmusk I’m sorry to hear about that. I know the feeling. The only difference is I can’t do it because of a physical disability and you’re afraid someone you hurt will attack you while you poop”, Halli tweeted.
A statement on Thorleifsson’s personal website, posted before his altercation with Musk, says: “I have genetic muscle atrophy, often called muscle dystrophy. The one I have is called Dysferlinopathy. I use a wheelchair and I am slowly but surely losing strength in my upper body and arms. I don’t like it but that doesn’t really change anything.”
Twitter and Thorleifsson didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment
Thorleifsson, who is located in Reykjavik, Iceland, joined the micro-blogging platform as a full-time worker in 2021 after Twitter purchased Ueno, a creative agency he created. Several Icelandic media sites chose him as the country’s 2022 Person of the Year.
On Monday, Thorleifsson shared an image of himself seated in a wheelchair amid his argument with Musk. Afterward, he spoke about the impact of muscular dystrophy on his physique in a Twitter post.
Thorleifsson stated afterward that Twitter’s human resources manager had sent him an email confirming that he was no longer employed by the firm.