Twitter CEO Elon Musk invited the two legendary heroes who impersonated fired Twitter employees back to Twitter headquarters Tuesday after catching slack over firing other employees.
Two San Francisco men, who identified themselves as “Rahul Ligma” and “Daniel Johnson,” stood outside Twitter’s headquarters amid mass layoffs and pretended to be fired employees.
CNBC’s Deidra Bosa posted interviews with both men, captioned “entire team of data engineers let go. These are two of them.”
The men, however, were pranksters, with the combination of the names “Johnson,” a euphemism for phallus, and “Ligma,” the setup to a crude joke, prompting Twitter users to identify the men as fakes.
Musk, however, joined in on the joke, welcoming the employees back after he received slack over other layoffs.
“Welcoming back Ligma & Johnson!” Musk tweeted alongside a photo of him and the two imposters, smiling with their thumbs up.
Welcoming back Ligma & Johnson! pic.twitter.com/LEhXV95Njj
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022
“Important to admit when I’m wrong & firing them was truly one of my biggest mistakes,” Musk added.
Important to admit when I’m wrong & firing them was truly one of my biggest mistakes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022
Musk’s post comes hours after he mocked a Twitter account that criticized the CEO for firing several employees. (RELATED: ‘He’s Fired’: Elon Musk Axes Twitter Employee Who Tried To One-Up Him Publicly)
The account, @unusual_whales, tweeted “Elon has fired numerous employees who were critical of him on Twitter and the company’s Slack, according to Protocal. Twitter, in an email to these employees, wrote that: ‘We regret to inform you that your employment is terminated immediately … your recent behavior has violated company policy.’ It is unclear how many employees this has affected.”
“I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. Their immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere,” Musk responded.
I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. Their immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022
One Twitter user, Chris Katje, asked Musk in response whether he feels bad “about Rahul Ligma, fired from Twitter.”
“Just heard he got a job at FTX only to be fired from there a week later. Sad couple months for that guy….sigh,” Katje wrote.
“Ligma & Johnson are welcome back anytime,” Musk said.