Sheryl Crow versus Tesla was not something I had on my 2025 Bingo card.
Though it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. Crow has openly voiced her support for the Democratic party, and Elon Musk – the CEO of Tesla – is playing a big role in Trump’s second administration. While Musk is also fulfilling his duties as the CEO of SpaceX and the owner of Twitter/X, the billionaire is also heading up Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with reducing government spending, eliminating waste, and shrinking the size of government.
Crow, like many other democrats, isn’t a fan of Musk’s involvement in President Trump’s presidency. So last week, she took to Instagram to post a video showing her Tesla being towed off as she waved goodbye.
The “Soak Up The Sun” singer also shared this message explaining her decision to sell her Elon-Musk-adjacent vehicle and donate the money to NPR:
“My parents always 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. Money donated to NPR, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.”
As you might imagine, Sheryl Crow wasn’t exactly celebrated for her stunt. Many online claimed it was performative virtue-signaling, and that the video was shared online to help her ego more than anything. Oh, and a lot of people pointed out that for February, there sure were a lot of leaves on the trees…
The “looks like Fall” argument even led to Sheryl addressing the backlash, and admitting that she had filmed the video back in November of last year shortly after the election – before Elon Musk had even stepped into his role in the Trump administration. Crow explained herself in the video, saying:
“Wow, I didn’t know my post was going to blow up the way that it did. Thank you to people that were loving. For those of you who were on the hate side of things, yeah, there were some leaves on the trees because, yes, I did donate my Tesla right after the election. But this is the week that I got the confirmation back that the money went to NPR – which is something that I care about.
Not everybody can donate a car to something that they care about. For me, it was important because I understood that NPR would be going away. That is where I get my news, as well as PBS… places that I feel like I can count on that are not based on algorithms.”
Sheryl also took a moment to combat some online hate she had received in regards to sending money to NPR rather than Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. That specific angle of attack from the internet certainly seemed to get under her skin:
“Also addressing the haters (asking) why I didn’t give the money to hurricane victims. I give a sh*t ton of money to things I care about, including hurricane victims and the environment and safe schools and cancer research. Let’s put that aside. Not everyone is going to be able to donate a Tesla, but if you are looking for something to do, make sure your voice is heard.”
Crow went on to say that she would be providing resources to those interested in helping (that was a little vague) and she encouraged people to call their representatives to tell them how they feel.
You can view her whole response to the Tesla-towing backlash in the clip below:
