Did Tesla really turn off a Cybertruck on the highway because its owner featured it in an unauthorized music video? This scenario was already hard to believe, and on Monday, Tesla clarified on Twitter, stating, “This is fake – that’s not our screen. Tesla does NOT disable vehicles remotely.”
On Sunday, Instagram user @bighuey313 shared a video, claiming his Cybertruck was disabled and showing a flashing red warning on the truck’s main touchscreen. He captioned the post with, “Dog wtf my cybertruck just shut off on the freeway! 😡 Almost just crashed wtf @teslamotors.”
The owner also displayed what he alleged was a cease-and-desist letter from Tesla’s VP of legal affairs, Dinna Eskin. The letter mentioned “unauthorized use of Tesla’s intellectual property in musical content distributed under your name.”
The video gained rapid attention on BlueSky, where dissatisfaction with Elon Musk fueled protests against Tesla. However, viewers noticed several inconsistencies, like the letter beginning with “We represent Tesla” despite being signed by Tesla’s in-house counsel. The letter also used Eskin’s previous title, “Sr. Director and Deputy General Counsel,” rather than her current title. Furthermore, the warning didn’t match Tesla’s standard in-vehicle alerts. An X user suggested the alert was merely a YouTube video playing in fullscreen to mimic a real error.
Even with these discrepancies, the video spread widely across BlueSky, X, and Reddit, reinforcing many preconceived notions about Tesla and Elon Musk.
