The New York Times published a new report last Friday that claimed Elon Musk has been using illicit drugs, which led to speculation about why he looked so spaced out during his “farewell” press conference at the Oval Office. But the billionaire spent the weekend denying that he uses drugs, going so far as to insist the newspaper was “lying their ass off.”
The denials started in a rather jokey way after a Musk fan account named Whole Mars Catalog tweeted, “Given Elon Musk’s business track record, any drugs he’s taking should be put in the public’s drinking water.”
Musk replied with a crying-laughing emoji and “100” before getting into his denial: “Also, to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off. I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”
The Whole Mars Catalog replied: “nothing wrong with being a little horsey every once in a while.” Ketamine is often used as a veterinary anesthetic, especially for horses. Aside from ketamine, the report from the New York Times claimed Musk has been using Ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, and the prescription medication Adderall.
The Wall Street Journal was the first major newspaper to publish an extensive report on Musk’s alleged drug use back in Jan. 2024. The crux of the story was that many people who worked with Musk were worried that his alleged drug use could hamper his ability to successfully run his companies. Aside from the Ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, Adderall, and ketamine, the Journal’s reporting also included allegations that he used cocaine and LSD.
Musk smoked cannabis on Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2018, though that was before Rogan’s podcast moved to Texas. Recreational use of marijuana has been legal in California, where that episode was filmed, since 2016. However, drug use is still prohibited for people to acquire high-level security clearances, which Musk holds as a federal contractor through SpaceX.
One of the new allegations from the New York Times reporting is that Musk has received “advance warning” of drugs tests required to keep his security clearance, citing “people close to the process.” The newspaper didn’t further elaborate on how Musk would learn about the timing of supposedly random drug tests. NASA issued a statement in 2024 saying the agency “does not have evidence of non-compliance from SpaceX on how the company addresses the drug- and alcohol-free workforce regulations.”
It was Musk’s alleged use of ketamine that has received the most attention on social media, especially after the Journal report came out. And the new report from the New York Times on Friday claims Musk has experienced bladder issues from using the drug. The 53-year-old has used ketamine “often, sometimes daily, and mixing it with other drugs,” according to the Times.
Musk made a rather bizarre appearance at the White House on Friday, appearing with a black eye that he claimed was caused by his 5-year-old son. Musk apparently told the boy, nicknamed X, to punch him in the face. The Tesla CEO also rolled his head around and appeared to gaze into the distance at odd intervals as Trump was speaking.
Musk has previously said that he was prescribed ketamine for depression, but on Saturday he denied using it at all in recent years. “I’m not on ketamine ffs,” Musk wrote over the weekend in response to social media speculation he may have been using the drug recently when he was filmed playing with silverware at a dinner with President Trump.
Musk playing with his silverware while tripping on ketamine at Bedminster.pic.twitter.com/2nvI7Wzuri
— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) March 22, 2025
The Whole Mars Catalog’s joke about having “a little horsey every once in a while” probably best summarizes the relaxed attitude most Americans have about drug use in the 2020s by private individuals. But the potential hypocrisy seems to be the bigger issue.
Musk’s work for President Donald Trump has been centered around supposedly rooting out fraud in the federal government. But the billionaire is a federal contractor who’s now been accused of somehow getting around drug tests. And Trump is the guy who complains that immigrants and “drug dealers” are flooding into the U.S. and harming Americans. If Trump’s right-hand man is using illegal drugs—substances that would otherwise get the average person into trouble—normal people are going to see that as terribly hypocritical.
Musk has also complained about how other people treat mental illness with medications, writing as recently as Friday, “Overprescription of psychiatric drugs is a real problem.” The SpaceX CEO wrote in a tweet last year, “We’re definitely oversubscribing drugs to kids,” apparently intending to write “overprescribing.”
Gizmodo reached out to Musk’s companies X and Tesla for comment but did not receive a response. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
