Elon Musk appears to publicly discourage his ex-partner Grimes from pursuing 'elf ear surgery'

• Elon Musk appeared to discourage his ex, singer Grimes, from getting "elf ears."
• "The downside of elf ear surgery probably outweighs the upside," Musk tweeted at Grimes.

Elon Musk appeared to discourage his former partner, singer Grimes, from getting a set of pointed elfish ears through surgery.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Grimes wondered if anyone had successfully gotten the surgery with a "good outcome."

"Im scared about ear cartilage having a hard time healing," Grimes tweeted. "Especially as a musician this surgery seems risky but I've wanted it my whole life. Curious about peoples experiences!"

In response, Musk tweeted: "The downside of elf ear surgery probably outweighs the upside."

Grimes replied to Musk, lamenting how elf ears might be achievable through gene editing. "Sad to be born just a few generations too early," she tweeted.

Grimes' initial tweet likely referred to a form of body modification called "elf ear surgery" that has become popular in places like China. It involves changing the shape of one's ear to look pointy at the tips and requires the trimming and reshaping of ear cartilage.

Grimes is the mother of two of Musk's children. They unveiled their relationship at the Met Gala in May 2018, after meeting on Twitter and bonding over a joke about artificial intelligence. Musk told The Wall Street Journal in 2019 that he loves Grimes for her "wild fae artistic creativity and hyper intense work ethic."

The pair's son, X Æ A-Xii— pronounced "X A.I. Archangel" — was born in May 2020. And in March 2022, Grimes revealed in a Vanity Fair interview that the couple also had a baby girl named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, or "Y," via a surrogate.

Grimes' publicist and representatives for Musk at Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.