Elon Musk hated HBO’s “Silicon Valley” so much that he reportedly felt compelled to gripe about its satirical portrayal of lame “tech bro” parties — and brag to the show’s star about the superior shindigs he has attended himself.
Kumail Nanjiani said that the world’s richest mogul complained to him that the tech gatherings depicted on the HBO comedy were nothing like his exclusive billionaire bashes.
“He was like, all the parties I go to are much cooler than these parties,” Nanjiani, 47, told comedian Mike Birbiglia on his podcast last week about meeting Musk.
The “Silicon Valley” star had the perfect comeback: “I was like, yeah man, you’re one of the richest people in the world. We’re, like, losers on the show. Of course your parties are better than my parties.”
Nanjiani’s revelation offers a rare glimpse into Musk’s thinking on how Hollywood portrays the tech elite — even in a show that never actually featured him as a character.
The Tesla CEO’s reaction sparked renewed interest in the real Silicon Valley party scene, which in years past has gained notoriety for pushing boundaries far beyond what HBO ever showed.
“Silicon Valley,” which was created by Mike Judge of “Beavis and Butt-Head” fame, ran for 53 episodes across six seasons from 2014 to 2019.
The series followed Richard Hendricks, an awkward programmer building a startup called Pied Piper with his misfit friends.
The show earned five consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series by savagely mocking “brogrammer culture” and the eccentricities of tech billionaires.
While Musk never appeared as a character, the series featured various fictional moguls like Gavin Belson of “Hooli” who parodied traits associated with real tech titans.
Nanjiani revealed he’d met several Silicon Valley heavyweights during the show’s run, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But Musk stood out for his particularly negative reaction, according to the actor.
The HBO show particularly irritated Musk with its opening scene featuring Kid Rock performing at a sparsely attended tech party, according to Nanjiani.
“The first scene of the show is — it’s such a funny opening — it’s Kid Rock playing on stage,” Nanjiani explained, “and then it cuts to the audience and it’s at, clearly, some tech party. There’s seven nerdy dudes standing there, (and) nobody’s paying attention.”
“Elon was upset. He was like, ‘Well, the parties I go to are much cooler than these parties,’” the “Big Sick” star recalled.
“It was like, ‘Yeah man, you’re one of the richest people in the world. We’re like losers on the show. Of course your parties are better than my parties. What are you talking about?’”
Back in 2014, Musk showed up at a special screening of “Silicon Valley” and made it clear he wasn’t impressed, according to Vox.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Musk complained that Judge had missed the essence of the tech world’s party scene.
“I really feel like Mike Judge has never been to Burning Man, which is Silicon Valley,” Musk said at the afterparty.
“If you haven’t been, you just don’t get it. You could take the craziest LA party and multiply it by a thousand, and it doesn’t even get fucking close to what’s in Silicon Valley. The show didn’t have any of that.”
Musk contrasted Silicon Valley’s social culture with Hollywood’s, adding: “The parties in Silicon Valley are amazing because people don’t care about how they’re perceived socially, which I don’t think Mike got. Hollywood is a place where people always care about what the public will think of them, and it’s f–king sad, and the show felt more like that.”
“I’ve lived in Hollywood 12 years, and I’ve never been to a f–king good party,” Musk said.
He even went so far as to suggest he’d personally take Judge to Burning Man—though it’s unknown if the offer was ever taken up.
The billionaire’s complaint about party accuracy becomes more intriguing considering what really goes down at elite tech gatherings.
Emily Chang’s explosive 2018 book “Brotopia” exposed secretive Silicon Valley parties featuring drug use and open sexual behavior among venture capitalists and founders.
These events allegedly involved MDMA and “cuddle puddles” encouraging intimacy, with women reporting feeling pressured to participate.
Chang claimed Musk attended at least one such gathering in 2017 at investor Steve Jurvetson’s house — though Musk vigorously disputed her characterization.
The SpaceX founder insisted he thought it was a costume party and saw nothing inappropriate before leaving early.
“Nerds on a couch are not a ‘cuddle puddle,’” Musk told Wired in 2018.
“I was hounded all night by DFJ-funded entrepreneurs, so went to sleep around 1am. Nothing remotely worth writing about happened.”
His reference to Draper Fisher Jurvetson-funded entrepreneurs suggests even Musk’s “cooler” parties involve relentless networking and startup pitches. DFJ is a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm that funds technology startups.
The Post has sought comment from Nanjiani and Musk.
