Hollywood’s favorite leading man, George Clooney, said he’s no fan of Tinseltown’s favorite electric-car company, Tesla Motors.
“I had a Tesla. I was one of the first cats with a Tesla,” Clooney bragged to Esquire in a recent interview. “But I’m telling you, I’ve been on the side of the road a while in that thing. And I said to them, ‘Look, guys, why am I always stuck on the side of the f**king road? Make it work, one way or another.’”
The scathing review couldn’t come at a worse time for Tesla’s billionaire founder and whiz kid Elon Musk, who’s been bombarded with recent concerns about the car’s safety.
Tesla’s stock took a beating last week amid reports that some Tesla’s popular Model S electric sedans caught fire, which raised concerns about the safety of its batteries.
Musk has defended the safety of the Model S, arguing that the result of one particular fire “could have been far worse” had the same accident occurred with “a conventional gasoline car.”
The stock is down 17 percent over the last five days to $144.70, although that drop barely puts a dent in Tesla’s 327-percent stock rise this year.
Clooney’s remarks, meanwhile, seem to have had little impact on the stock, which was up close to 5 percent on Monday.
The actor reportedly sold his Tesla Roadster last year.
The sports car, which sold at a base price of $109,000, was once a favorite among the Hollywood set but was discontinued in 2011 as Musk has turned his attention to the Model S, a more affordable sedan.