Veep Creator Armando Iannucci Criticizes Elon Musk Post UK Anti-Racism Rallies

Veep creator Armando Iannucci is taking aim at tech mogul Elon Musk after the billionaire was accused of fanning the flames of the U.K.’s far-right movement, which has sparked nights of riots, looting, and vandalism.

On Wednesday, police were alerted to brace for over 100 anti-migration protests, prompting the deployment of over 6,000 riot police across the country. Sky’s west London campus employees received a memo to stay home or leave work early due to a planned protest nearby in Brentford.

Instead, anti-racism rallies took hold of Britain’s streets, preventing further violence. In cities like Brighton, Walthamstow, Liverpool, Oxford, and Bristol, thousands of people gathered, holding signs such as “Refugees welcome here” and “Hate not welcome here.” While a few serious incidents did occur, the night remained largely peaceful.

The Chief of the Metropolitan Police described it as “a successful night.” Mark Rowley told the BBC, “We put thousands of officers on the street and I think the show of force from the police, along with the unity from communities, defeated the challenges we faced.”

The unrest began after the stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England, on July 29. False claims circulated on social media suggested the suspect, now identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was an asylum seeker. Rudakubana, whose parents emigrated from Rwanda, was a British national born in Wales.

Minorities, in particular, have been targeted in the violence. Over 400 arrests have been made as the U.K. Prime Minister promised that perpetrators would “face the full force of the law.” He later added, “We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.”

Elon Musk emerged as a perceived instigator in the unrest by allowing disinformation to spread rapidly on his platform, X, formerly Twitter. Far-left politicians in the U.K. have begun to call for X to be banned after Musk responded to a post of a riot in Liverpool by commenting, “Civil war is inevitable.”

Following an attack on a mosque in Southport, Musk replied to a comment by Starmer about protecting Muslim communities with, “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”

Glasgow-born screenwriter and producer Armando Iannucci has been vocal on X about Musk’s posts. The Emmy-winning satirist, who also created British political sitcom The Thick of It, responded to photos of anti-racism crowds by saying, “Civil society, not civil war. Do please repost, #Elon.”

Iannucci also quote-posted a photo showing a handful of far-right protestors surrounded by hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, with the caption, “You seeing this, @ElonMusk?” Earlier in the week, he told the X owner, “You have no idea what our wonderful country is really like and are, like the planet Mars, both toxic and empty.” So far, Musk has not responded.

The Prime Minister has blamed social media for the escalation in the aftermath of the stabbings. “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder was clearly whipped up online. That is also a crime. It is happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”

Iannucci told The Hollywood Reporter in July that his X feed has become “full of weirdness.”

“Certain people make a lot of noise and we take the noise seriously, and therefore think they must have a wide following,” Iannucci said. “And that’s not necessarily the case. It’s just that they’re very good at being loud. We mustn’t fall for that just because we hear them at full volume.”

Source: Alienant, Reuters, BBC