Yes, this is a real headline. Futurism published 6 Things Elon Musk Could Be Doing Instead of Denying He’s a Furry in 2019 and updated it on April 4, 2019. Written by Jon Christian under the site’s “Fursona Report” label, it was a satirical listicle prompted by Elon Musk answering a question about whether he was a furry. Musk initially denied it, then described himself as “fur-curious.”
The joke did not establish that Musk is a furry. Nor does it verify a later internet allegation that he sought out a babyfur community. Those are separate stories, and the later claim remains unsupported by direct evidence.
What the original Futurism article was
The article is an archived piece of internet-culture satire, not an investigation into Musk’s private interests. Its premise was the comic contrast between a prominent technology executive publicly addressing a furry question and the many projects, lawsuits and promises associated with him at the time.
Read the original article at Futurism. The “Fursona Report” framing signals that its tone is playful. Date-sensitive references in the article—such as an imminent launch and a target for the end of 2020—belong to early 2019 and should not be read as current statements.
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The six things the joke listed
Futurism’s six alternatives were a humorous snapshot of Musk-related news in early 2019. They were not six independent job descriptions; several overlap with one another.
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Running Tesla, SpaceX and his other ventures
The broadest item was simply the work of leading Musk’s companies. That responsibility also encompasses several of the specific projects named below, which is part of the listicle’s deliberately loose construction.
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Preparing for a Falcon Heavy launch
The article referred to a Falcon Heavy launch expected “this coming Sunday.” That wording was tied to the publication moment in 2019. It was a contemporaneous scheduling reference, not a prediction about a launch today.
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Dealing with the SEC dispute
Futurism pointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s effort to hold Musk in contempt over his tweeting. This was the legal context when the article ran; the item should not be mistaken for a current update on that case.
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Working toward Tesla’s “full self-driving” target
The article cited Musk’s then-recent promise that Tesla would achieve “full self-driving” by the end of 2020. That was Musk’s stated target as reported in 2019, not an established achievement. The quotation needs its date and attribution whenever it is repeated.
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Coping with media scrutiny
The fifth item used mock-sympathetic language about the press holding Musk to an unusually demanding standard. That is Futurism’s comic voice, not an objective finding about media coverage.
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Pursuing a fast route to the Moon
The final item invoked Musk’s stated desire to reach the Moon “as fast as possible.” Futurism treated that ambitious space goal as a funny contrast with spending time responding to a question about furry identity.
What “fur-curious” meant in context
In the exchange described by Futurism, Musk was asked whether he identified as a furry, denied it, and then used the phrase “fur-curious.” The wording made the denial more attention-grabbing than ignoring the question, which supplied the article’s central joke.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute“Furry” is a broad fandom involving anthropomorphic animal characters, art, costumes, roleplay and online communities. Participation can take many forms and should not automatically be conflated with sexual subcultures. Musk’s quip, however, is not independent evidence that he identifies with the fandom.
How the later babyfur rumor developed
A separate rumor appeared online years later. According to a Know Your Meme explainer, an X post on July 25, 2024 alleged that Musk had tried to enter a Bay Area babyfur community in 2009.
“Babyfur” is a term for roleplay involving childlike or infant furry characters. The label is not interchangeable with the broader furry fandom, and the 2019 Futurism article was not about babyfur.
The same explainer discussed a separate photograph of a man resembling Musk in an owl onesie. It said the person’s identity was unclear and found no direct evidence that Musk participated in babyfur roleplay. The 2009 allegation therefore remains an online claim, not verified biographical history.
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Documented facts versus speculation
| Documented in the cited coverage | Not established by that evidence |
|---|---|
| Futurism published the satirical article in 2019, updated April 4, 2019, with a byline from Jon Christian. | That Musk is a furry. |
| Futurism described Musk denying he was a furry and later saying he was “fur-curious.” | That Musk is a babyfur. |
| The six-item list reflected contemporaneous topics: company leadership, Falcon Heavy, the SEC dispute, Tesla’s promised 2020 autonomy target, media attention and lunar ambitions. | That he tried to join a babyfur group in 2009. |
| A 2024 deposition reportedly confirmed that an alternate X account belonged to Musk and had been used for roleplay involving his son’s identity. | That such roleplay proves a furry identity or any particular sexual interest. |
| The babyfur rumor circulated widely online. | That the owl-onesie photograph depicts Musk. |
Why the claim keeps resurfacing
Musk’s prolific social-media presence gives old jokes and screenshots a long afterlife. Once the 2019 “fur-curious” exchange existed, later users could attach unrelated anecdotes to it and present the combination as a continuous story. Ambiguous photographs and unsourced posts can feel persuasive even when they do not identify a person or establish what happened.
Visual material needs particular caution. In January 2026, Lead Stories fact-checked an image involving Musk, Ted Cruz and furries and found that it had been digitally altered, with faces changed and furries added. That example does not prove anything about the 2019 exchange or the 2024 rumor; it demonstrates why a viral image without provenance is not corroboration.
The responsible takeaway
The headline refers to a genuine 2019 Futurism joke. Its six “things” were comic alternatives built from the public controversies and ambitions surrounding Musk at that moment, not evidence about his identity. Musk’s “fur-curious” phrase was a social-media response, not a verified label, and the later babyfur allegation has no direct evidence behind it in the cited coverage.
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