Did Elon Musk publish a social media post saying, "My tolerance for Ketamine is unlimited," just before midnight on December 26, 2024? No, that's not true: A fabricated screenshot was posted by a parody account on X. The screenshot contained the same time and date stamp as a real reply Musk posted on X that read, "My tolerance for subtards is limited."
A version of the claim was shared to Threads on December 29, 2024, (archived here) with the caption:
US defense contractor openly admits his drug addiction, and no one bats an eye 🤦♂️
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: Threads screenshot taken on Mon Dec 30 15:57:10 2024 UTC)
This post supposedly shared by Musk is not real. It is a fake screenshot posted on X (archived here) on December 28, 2024, by the parody account "Liam Nissan™." The fake image then surfaced on other social media platforms without noting that it was satirical.
However, Musk has previously discussed his prescription and support for the off-label use of ketamine as a treatment for depression. Examples include a segment during an interview with Don Lemon published on March 18, 2024 (archived here), and in several posts on X, as shown here (archived here). Notably absent from the X results is a December 26, 2024, post just before midnight that says, "My tolerance for Ketamine is unlimited."
According to the timestamp on a real post from Musk (archived here) published on December 26, 2024, at 11:54 p.m., he responded to a post from @HansCNelson (exchange pictured below). His reply read:
My tolerance for subtards is limited
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Dec 30 16:03:10 2024 UTC)
The slang term "subtard" has several meanings defined by the Urban Dictionary (archived here). The scope of this fact check does not extend to Musk's intended meaning. What is relevant is that the timestamp on this real post from Musk is the same as the timestamp on a fake screenshot posted on X on December 28, 2024, by the parody account @theliamnissan ("Liam Nissan™"). That account's bio (archived here) reads:
What I have is a particular set of skills; skills that make me a nightmare for Nazi dickbags on the internet. I joke, and drive a Nissan (parody)
On December 27, 2024, the same parody account posted a screenshot (archived here) of Musk's real "subtards" reply (pictured below) on X, and then a day later posted the faked screenshot (archived here).
(Source: Lead Stories markup on X screenshot taken on Mon Dec 30 16:19:10 2024 UTC)
A Google search (archived here) for the phrase "My tolerance for Ketamine is unlimited" surfaced examples of the fake screenshot, but no results show discussion of what Musk was purported to have posted -- until the fake screenshot was introduced by @theliamnissan on December 28, 2024.
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims associated with Elon Musk can be found here.
