Grimes Refused To Take Money From Elon Musk, But Not For A Reason Anyone Expected

September 2024 · 5 minute read

The thing Grimes' fans love about her is her originality and how it's impossible to pigeonhole the musician in any one artistic style. And the same can be said about Grimes' personal life.

First, Grimes was pregnant with Musk's child, or as she liked to call it – was “knocked up.” Then, the pair gave everyone a collective headache with the bizarre name they chose for their son (X Æ A-12). Then they broke up and the news hit the stands of Musk having twins with his new girlfriend (and Neuralink employee).

Then Musk and Grimes were back together again – kind of – in what Grimes called a 'fluid relationship that she doesn't expect others to understand'. And then they randomly announced one day that they just had a second child via surrogate, quickly followed by another announcement that they had “broken up again.”

The pair sure knows how to give the public vertigo!

So given all this, it's no secret that Grimes and Elon Musk's relationship is quite different from his relationships with the other women in his past. And one big difference is how Grimes refused to use Musk's money when they were together.

Or, at least, that's what she said.

Grimes' Fans Were Very Upset When She Started Dating Elon Musk

Grimes has always espoused left-leaning beliefs. Her fans knew where she stood in regard to subjects like the growing income gap and imperialism.

In fact, Grimes' Twitter bio said “Anti-Imperialist” at the time she started dating Elon Musk in 2018.

That's why, when Grimes showed up to the 2018 Met Gala with Elon Musk, wearing a Tesla choker around her neck, a lot of her fans were immediately upset that she was dating a billionaire whose very existence was possible because of the income disparity.

Some of them even tweeted at her to “break up with Elon now.”

Related: What Does Grimes Think Of Elon Musk Taking Over Twitter?

But Grimes told Rolling Stone in an interview that her relationship with Musk did not actually clash with her beliefs and that she never took any money from Musk to fund her art and music.

“If someone’s just gonna take everything and just put it into R&D to make the world better, and just get up at the f***ing crack of dawn every day and go to bed really late every night, doesn’t take vacations and just actually puts every single ounce of his energy in everything he cares about and all his money into making the world better?"

Grimes concluded, "Like, I can make an exception. I admire it a lot. I think it’s great. To me, it does not contradict my beliefs.”

Grimes Says She Refused To Take Any Money From Elon Musk

Grimes mentioned in the interview that Elon Musk's goals were very similar to Bernie Sanders'. “Their end goals are very similar,” Grimes said. “Fix environmental problems, reduce suffering.”

And while she believes it's important to “dissect the wealth gap and the existence of billionaires,” she also acknowledged that the world was not black and white and there was “nuance” that her fans were missing.

Related: This Is What Elon Musk Is Really Like As A Father

This is precisely why she refused to take any money from Elon Musk while they were dating: his money was funding “essential projects.”

“Grimes is funded by Grimes. I don’t want to divert funds from, like, Tesla to my stupid art project,” she said. “I can’t say the things I say and believe what I believe and then take money from my boyfriend.”

But she noted that she would like to receive “child care” for her children from her ex-boyfriend.

Grimes' Relationship With Elon Was Apparently Different From The Rest

While Grimes might consider Musk a god-tier gift to humankind (she once tweeted that even after breaking up with Musk, she was going to "dedicate her life to The Mission”), Elon Musk's ex-wife Justine Musk had a very different experience when she was married to the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

In an opinion piece for Marie Claire, Justine Musk described how the person she dated and the person she married were wildly different. And that the first sign of the impending disaster was when Musk told her during their wedding reception that he was the “alpha in their relationship.”

Related: Elon Musk Has Some Truly Weird Spending Habits, Here Are The Strangest Ways He Plays With His Colossal Net Worth

Justine Musk added that all the women in the circles she was frequenting with Musk (before their divorce) were only “supposed to be” concerned with shopping, looking good, and keeping things in perfect order. Musk even kept pushing her to “go platinum” regarding her hair color.

This account sounds very different from the way Grimes describes her relationship with Musk and how he is different from other power-hungry billionaires.

As for Grimes not accepting any money from Musk while she was with him: While that may be true (no one can know for sure), her career wildly benefited from Musk's larger fan following.

That has probably increased her personal net worth significantly compared to when she was only an underground subcultural phenomenon.

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