Elon Musk stood by his endorsement of ketamine, stating that his use of the drug helps him combat a "negative chemical mind state" and ultimately benefits investors in Tesla, the electric car company where he serves as CEO.
These remarks were made during a lengthy discussion with former CNN host Don Lemon, who shared the at times contentious conversation on social media, including Musk's X (formerly known as Twitter) platform.
Despite requests for comment, Tesla did not immediately respond.
Even prior to the interview's release, the conversation had sparked interest as Musk suddenly terminated Lemon's contract with X following the interview. Earlier in the year, X had announced Lemon's involvement, highlighting his "distinctive and candid voice" in three 30-minute episodes weekly.
Lemon's interview with Musk delves into numerous topics, ranging from the entrepreneur's views on race to X's loss of advertisers over his antisemitic comments, with Musk growing increasingly ill-tempered with Lemon over the course of the discussion. Questioned by Lemon about his use of drugs, Musk noted that he has a physician's prescription for ketamine, a "dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen" that was cited as a cause of actor Matthew Perry's death last year, and that he takes it once every other week.
Musk had previously disclosed he has a prescription for the drug, writing on X in August that he takes ketamine for when his brain "goes super negative."
In the interview with Lemon, Musk defended his use of ketamine by pointing to Tesla's value as a publicly held company, suggesting that taking the drug has helped him lead the automaker.
"What matters is execution," Musk said. "Tesla is worth about as much as the rest of the car industry combined, from nothing. From an investor's standpoint, if there is something I'm taking, I should keep taking it."
Tesla shares rose 5.8% in Monday morning trading. They've plunged 30% so far this year, compared with a 7.3% gain for the S&P 500 index.
The interview ended with testy remarks from Musk over Lemon's questioning of X's free speech policies and the loss of big advertisers. In November, Musk had said fleeing advertisers could "kill the company," but at the same time blasted businesses that were seeking to distance themselves from the social media service.
In the Lemon interview, Musk defended his approach, saying X wouldn't censor content at the request of advertisers.
"If they kill the company, it's done. But doesn't the buck stop with you?" Lemon inquired.
"Choose your question carefully. There are five minutes left," Musk responded.
After Lemon repeated the question, Musk stated, "I acquired X in order to preserve freedom of speech in America, the First Amendment. If that means making less money, so be it."
A few seconds later, Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with Lemon's questioning style, labeling it as "not cogent." He also mentioned that advertisers are returning to X.
"I feel very optimistic about the future of the X platform," he concluded.
