- Singer Sheryl Crow is ditching her Tesla and donating proceeds to NPR.
- She implied the move is related to Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
- NPR has been a frequent target of Musk, even before Trump’s reelection.
The rich and famous helped put Tesla on the map, but they’re turning on the company and its outspoken CEO, Elon Musk. The latest defection comes from Grammy award winner Sheryl Crow, who took to social media to express her disdain with the executive.
In an Instagram post, Crow said “There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with” and this means “so long Tesla.” She went on to suggest money from selling the car will be donated to NPR, which is “under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.”
More: Tesla Backlash Grows As Protestors Plan To Swarm Showrooms Nationwide
This appears to be a reference to Musk’s role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been slashing federal spending. These cuts haven’t gone smoothly as layoffs recently hit the National Nuclear Security Administration and had to be clawed back once the implications were noticed. This prompted the executive director of the Arms Control Association, Daryl Kimball, to tell the Associated Press “The DOGE people are coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for.”
Getting back to NPR, the news organization has been targeted by Musk even before Trump’s reelection. In 2023, the owner of Twitter/X threatened to reassign the @NPR handle. Before that incident, Musk labeled the organization as “state-affiliated media” and this pushed them to stop using the platform.
While Twitter/X eventually removed the label, NPR didn’t resume posting on the platform. This pushed Musk to write an e-mail saying, “So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?”
Fast forward to today and NPR is being targeted by Republicans. Just last week, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced the Defund Government Sponsored Propaganda Act. It aims to end federal taxpayer funding of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).
While NPR contends “federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public,” they note that “on average, less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget comes in the form of grants from CPB [Corporation for Public Broadcasting] and federal agencies and departments.”
