Gary Lineker has described Elon Musk as a ‘very odd bloke’ and revealed he has been put off using the billionaire’s platform X.
The Match of the Day host, 63, was known for regularly sharing his views on current-affairs with his eight million followers- even if they got him into trouble with the BBC.
But the former England footballer now just uses the platform to promote his podcast titled The Rest Is Football.
‘I have become a bit bored with it. It is a very unpleasant world there and [Elon] Musk is clearly a very odd bloke,’ he told The Independent.
Gary Lineker has described Elon Musk as a ‘very odd bloke’ and revealed he has been put off using the billionaire’s platform X
The Match of the Day host, 63, was known for regularly sharing his views on current-affairs with his eight million followers- even if they got him into trouble with the BBC
Lineker, who earns £1.35million a year at the BBC, admitted he has been put off using the platform since it was purchased by Musk in October 2022 for $44billion.
He insisted he has changed his habits and said: ‘I don’t really post my thoughts now because I think it has become not a very pleasurable experience.
‘There was a time you could have little chats with people on there and a bit of banter but now it is impossible.
‘Before I could have chats with people I either followed or were blue-tick people but now everyone’s got a blue tick so that doesn’t work anymore.’
Following Musk’s purchase of Twitter, he allowed banned people, including former President Donald Trump, to return and introduced paid access to verification.
Lineker believes the platform has ‘become increasingly toxic’.
‘You can’t have a nuanced conversation on there anymore so I’ve stepped away from that side of things,’ he said at a Broadcasting Press Guild event.
The presenter has faced his fair share of controversy on the platform in the past and has been accused of not being impartial.
The presenter has faced his fair share of controversy on the platform in the past and has been accused of not being impartial
He was taken off air by the BBC last year after he compared the Conservative government’s language on illegal immigration to 1930s Germany
He was taken off air by the BBC last year after he compared the Conservative government’s language on illegal immigration to 1930s Germany.
Lineker shared online a video of Suella Braverman outlining the Illegal Migration Bill, with the comment: ‘Good heavens, this is beyond awful.’
Accused of being out of order, the former England footballer, who has been criticised for previous anti-Tory comments, replied: ‘There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
‘This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?’
His suspension triggered a walkout from pundits and commentators which forced the BBC to apologise for the changes to its sporting schedule.
The incident led to the broadcaster introducing new social media guidance for its most senior non-news presenters.
But Lineker continued to share his thoughts, spoke about Israel’s action in Gaza and mocked Conservative politicians.
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