A SpaceX director defended Elon Musk after Twitter layoffs, telling employees to show some empathy for the billionaire, report says

• A SpaceX director told Twitter staff to show empathy for Elon Musk after mass layoffs, per Bloomberg.
• Antonio Gracias also said in the meeting it was "hard" for Musk, the report said.

A SpaceX director stood up for his boss Elon Musk in front of Twitter employees after the company carried out mass layoffs, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Antonio Gracias, who is also a director at Tesla, told Twitter staff to show some empathy for Musk after he laid off scores of workers, per Bloomberg, citing former employees and partners in its report.

"This is hard for him," Gracias said in the meeting, according to Bloomberg. It wasn't clear when Gracias said this, but layoffs at Twitter took place from early November through to Thanksgiving.

Gracias was among the individuals in Musk's inner circle to replace Twitter executives who were fired or resigned after the billionaire took over, per the report. The other people included David Sacks, former PayPal chief operating officer; Alex Spiro, Musk's lawyer; and Sriram Krishnan, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Bloomberg reported.

Twitter employees have referred to these people as "the goons," per Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's report said the individuals haven't been allocated official roles at Twitter, but they have advised Musk on business matters and were added to the corporate directory.

One former employee told Bloomberg that Gracias banged the drum for Musk in a meeting with sales bosses, saying: "He's a winner. He wins everywhere."

Gracias, Twitter, and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.

Gracias was one of the many employees which Musk has pulled from his other companies to work at Twitter. The New York Times reported Musk brought in more than six SpaceX lawyers to work on the platform, as well as 17 top executives from Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, per CNBC.

It follows the loss of thousands of Twitter employees through firings, layoffs, and resignations since Musk bought the platform in late October. Entire departments at Twitter have barely — or any — staff remaining.