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Madison Czopek
By Madison Czopek May 28, 2024

No, Elon Musk hasn't acquired ABC and fired the cast of ‘The View’

If Your Time is short

  • We searched Google and reviewed "The View" hosts’ social media posts for evidence that the hosts had recently been fired from the show and came up empty. We contacted spokespeople for "The View" and The Walt Disney Co. and received no response. (The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC.)

  • We also found no reputable news organizations reporting that entrepreneur Elon Musk had acquired ABC.

Among Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, the social media platform X, and his other ventures, entrepreneur Elon Musk’s companies span various industries. 

A May 19 Facebook post claims Musk had expanded his portfolio to include a company that produces television programs. 

"Elon Musk Fires Entire Cast of ‘The View’ After Acquiring ABC," it read

In a comment underneath the post, the Facebook user had shared a link to a May 19 blog post titled, "Elon Musk Shakes Up Television with Daring Acquisition and Dismissal." 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

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(Screenshot from Facebook.)

"The View" is an ABC daytime talk show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro. 

We searched Google and reviewed the hosts’ recent posts on social media and found no evidence they’d recently been fired from "The View." The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC, the company behind "The View," according to its website

On May 14, the talk show hosts attended Disney Upfront, an annual event where the company shares its future program plans with advertisers.

Featured Fact-check

PolitiFact found no reputable news reports supporting claims that Musk acquired ABC. 

If Musk had purchased ABC, it would have made headlines. In 1995, Disney’s multibillion dollar deal to purchase then-Capital Cities/ABC drew attention from both news organizations and the U.S. Justice Department

We contacted a spokesperson for "The View" and The Walt Disney Co. and received no response. 

Absent evidence that Musk bought ABC and fired the hosts of "The View," we rate this claim False.

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No, Elon Musk hasn't acquired ABC and fired the cast of ‘The View’

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