Award-winning actress Ayo Edebiri has blamed Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk for death threats and racial slurs coming her way. In an Instagram story she posted on March 11, 2025, Edebiri recalled the time Elon Musk reposted a fake report on X (on February 7, 2024), according to which the actress would replace Johnny Depp as the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow in an upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean reboot.
According to Newsweek, Edebiri explained the incident on her Instagram stories, stating:
“just remembering when I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life (idk if it's the #1 moment, but for sure top 3) for a fake reboot of a movie I had never even heard of because of this man”
Continuing, Edebiri slammed Musk:
“he's an idiot but anyway”
Edebiri had included a screenshot of Musk’s old post. Newsweek added that Musk's now-removed post claimed:
“Disney considers Ayo Edebiri as Replacement for Johnny Depp in ‘Pirates 6’”
Musk had added a caption to the post that said:
“Disney su*ks”
The account, which originally posted the fake news, took to X on March 12, 2025, to clarify its position, writing:
“I never made any claims; I clearly stated ‘reportedly’ because it was the latest information coming from credible Hollywood sources.”
While news of Edebiri’s involvement in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has turned out to be false, a reboot of the hit franchise is indeed in the works, as confirmed by producer Jerry Bruckheimer in conversation with Entertainment Weekly.
However, Bruckheimer didn't confirm if Johnny Depp would appear in the reboot. Praising Depp's spin on Sparrow, Bruckheimer said:
"It's a reboot, but if it was up to me, he would be in it... I love him. He's a good friend. He's an amazing artist and he's a unique look. He created Captain Jack. That was not on the page, that was him doing a little Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards. That was his interpretation of Jack Sparrow."
Aye Edebiri’s clarification
On March 12, Ayo Edebiri issued an explanation for her March 11 Instagram story slamming Musk. In a post on Instagram stories, she wrote:
“stop making my IG stories news. I’m just tryna have a silly goofy time.”
Adding an image of a chair placed high up in the atmosphere with the earth below, Edebiri joked:
“This is where I post from :3”
In the next story, Edebiri added a screenshot of rapper Ice T’s 2019 X (then Twitter) post that stated:
“I get on Twitter…talk a little sh*t.. Get off…Back to life…”
Ayo Edebiri’s clarifications indicates that despite death threats and racial slurs, the actress wants to maintain her light-hearted spin on the situation.
Ayo Edebiri’s acting career
Ayo Edebiri is making her mark in comedy, television and the film industries. The actress won an Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2023 for her role as Sydney in FX’s The Bear. She has also added a Screen Actor's Guild award, a Golden Globe and a Critic's Choice award to her name for her work in the hit series.
Edebiri hosted a February 3, 2024, episode of sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live with the actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, and gave her voice to Envy in Inside Out 2, which released in 2024.
The actress also starred in A24’s horror film, Opus, alongside John Malkovich. The film was premiered at Sundance in January 2025.
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In May 2024, Deadline reported that Ayo Edebiri would star in filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s next offering, titled After The Hunt. The Call Me By Your Name fame director's upcoming film also features Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Chloë Sevigny. In July, Edebiri took to Instagram to share an image with the cast and crew of the film, adding the screenshot of a text exchange with Guadagnino who was excitedly asking her to share the image.
In February 2025, Edebiri and Guadagnino worked together for a W Magazine cover story. The actress donned a unique persona for the photoshoot, which was directed by Guadagnino.
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