- Matt Taibbi says Elon Musk gets a kick out of seeing information released via the "Twitter Files."
- The journalist was speaking on an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast.
Elon Musk enjoys seeing information from the "Twitter Files" being released onto the platform, according to journalist Matt Taibbi.
Taibbi made the comments while appearing on an episode of the "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, which was released on Monday.
"He gets a kick out of seeing all this stuff come out on Twitter," Taibbi said on the podcast, referring to Musk. He told Rogan that before Musk was in charge, the platform used to be a "private stomping ground" for "whiney journalists," who he said were now horrified by the "Twitter Files" leaks.
Taibbi is one of the journalists who released the "Twitter Files," which came about after Musk acquired the platform. The files have publicized some of Twitter's internal content moderation decisions, including the suspension of former President Donald Trump's account.
As part of the Twitter Files, Taibbi has posted lengthy threads containing leaked internal emails, messages, and other information he found.
During the podcast appearance, Taibbi said Musk spent $44 billion to become a "whistleblower" of his own company. "$44 billion is a lot to spend on that thrill, but I'm glad he did," Taibbi told Rogan.
Taibbi said in the podcast he wasn't fully aware of Musk's motives for buying Twitter but that the billionaire has a "pretty developed sense of humor."
In response to a clip of the podcast shared on Twitter, Musk replied: "Well-said."
Taibbi previously wrote for Rolling Stone before he set up his own Substack newsletter in 2020. He was chosen to work on the "Twitter Files," along with journalists Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger.
Insider's Kali Hays reported in December that Taibbi was given access to internal company tools, such as Slack, even though he didn't have an official position at Twitter.
Later that month, Musk accused "corporate journalism" of failing to side with the people over the "Twitter Files."
Insider reached out to Taibbi for comment but he didn't immediately respond. Twitter and Musk didn't reply to Insider's requests for comment.