Anti-Tesla Protests, Sell-Offs Mount As Musk Raids The U.S. Government

Country music star Sheryl Crow was among those who sold their Tesla to protest Elon Musk, Tesla and DOGE. Where does it end?

Shryl Crow

Photo by: InsideEVs

Kevin Williams

By: Kevin Williams

Feb 17, 2025 at 11:00am ET

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Country-pop singer Sheryl Crow sold her Tesla Model 3 and donated the proceeds to NPR.
Simultaneously, protests have been occurring nationwide at Tesla stores.
Tesla's sales have been on a downtrend, especially in Europe.

It’s time to acknowledge the elephant in the room here: Elon Musk’s meddling in global politics, far-right activism and wanton slash-and-burn of U.S government departments and programs via the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are increasingly inseparable from the average person’s perception of Tesla. For a while, folks were content to turn a blind eye, put up half-hearted “Bought this before I knew he was crazy” bumper stickers, or somehow simply not know what was going on. We are past that now. The backlash against Tesla because of Musk’s antics in government is gaining steam.

Protests against the automaker at its various stores around the U.S. and worldwide broke out this weekend, with some high-profile celebrities using the opportunity to publicly move on from Musk’s cars. Country-pop musician Sheryl Crow announced that she sold her Tesla Model 3 and is donating the vehicle’s proceeds to NPR. This comes hot on the heels of Musk’s decree on X that the government should “Defund NPR.” Although most of NPR’s funding does not actually come from the federal government, NPR said a great deal of the earmarked funds from the federal government are important to local stations remaining on air.

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The singer took to Instagram reels, posting a short video of her waving goodbye to her Model 3 being hauled away via a flatbed while the song “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli plays. In the caption, crow says “My parents said… you are who you hang out with. There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long, Tesla.”

As per usual in today’s social media-driven world, the comments on the post are polarized. While some praise the singer’s stand against Musk, others criticize her for what they see as DOGE and Musk simply exposing government waste. Crow has parried most of those comments fairly effectively, though.

True, maybe Sheryl Crow might no longer not be a big A-list star on the same level as Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, but her very public display of boycotting Elon Musk and Tesla is something that will serve to alarm regular people. Some may uncharitably call this “virtue signaling,” but I think this is just another example of growing anti-Tesla sentiment among the Average Joe who might not know much about EVs or politics.

And Crow wasn’t alone in expressing her distaste for Musk over the weekend. In perhaps the first tangible real-world impact from the nascent social media platform Bluesky, protests against Musk and DOGE were held at Tesla stores across the U.S. this weekend. According to news reports and social media posts, hundreds of people turned out to various Tesla locations to express their displeasure with what’s going on:

Some owners have reported their Teslas getting vandalized with anti-Musk graffiti.

We aren’t a pop culture publication, but It’s easy to forget that lots of average people don’t really know much about EVs, Musk or the way he operates his companies. That changed on Jan 20. Now that Musk has ingratiated himself into the Trump administration and has turned the government upside down on so many levels, it won’t be uncommon for the average person to have a newfound opinion on Musk and in turn, Tesla. Musk seems to be able to do no wrong in the new administration’s eyes, and for many people, the only way they can push back with any sort of safety or effectiveness is to sell and boycott Tesla products.

Neither Musk or Tesla itself has done much to allay the concerns and fears of Tesla owners, protestors or the millions of Americans who are vocally opposed to the cuts that DOGE is making. In fact, it feels like Musk has only gotten more spiteful, accelerating his possibly (probably) illegal meddling in government, and thus further entrenching Tesla into all of this mess.

What do you think?

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It’s still not entirely clear how this all will play out. But, it’s clear that the perception of Tesla may now be forever damaged. Let’s hope that won’t extend to EVs as a whole.

Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com