Elon Musk tweets popcorn emoji as Twitter whistleblower testifies before lawmakers

• It looks like Elon Musk tuned into the Twitter whistleblower Senate hearing on Tuesday.
• The billionaire tweeted a popcorn emoji as the former Twitter executive testified.

Elon Musk appears to have tuned into the Twitter whistleblower Senate hearing on Tuesday.

The billionaire tweeted a popcorn emoji and changed his profile name to "Naughtius Maximus" as the hearing ensued.

The hearing could impact Twitter's lawsuit against Musk. The social media company is attempting to force the billionaire to follow through on his agreement to purchase the company for $44 billion after he attempted to pull out of the agreement in July.

Musk's legal team is attempting to use the whistleblower complaint from Twitter's former security chief, Peiter Zatko, in its countersuit against the social media company. Up until Zatko's complaint was revealed, Musk's legal team argued that Twitter intentionally misled investors as to the company's prospects — especially when it comes to the number of authentic users versus scam accounts on its platform.

Last week, the Delaware judge overseeing the case agreed to allow Musk's legal team to amend its complaint to include Zatko's allegations. In his complaint, Zatko — better known by his hacker name, "Mudge" — accused the company of "lying" to Elon Musk about spam accounts on its site, and having poor security practices that could violate a previous FTC settlement agreement.

Twitter has said Zatko's revelations are "riddled with inaccuracies" and accused him of being a disgruntled former employee. Last week, Twitter's legal team said the cybersecurity chief never "had anything to do with spam" on the platform and accused Zatko of "parroting" Musk's allegations against the company.

During the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Zatko accused Twitter of prioritizing growth and profit over security and said the company was "over a decade behind" industry security standards when he first joined the company in 2020.

"I did not make my whistleblower disclosures out of spite or to harm Twitter; far from that," he said at the hearing. "I continue to believe in the mission of the company and root for its success. But that success can only happen if the privacy and security of Twitter's users and the public are protected."

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Zatko received a $7.75 million severance package after he left the company and signed a non-disclosure agreement in June — an allegation Musk's legal team used to try to justify its third attempt to pull out of the purchase agreement. On Monday, Twitter criticized Musk's latest attempt to dodge the deal and called it "invalid and wrongful."

The court case is set to go to a five-day trial in October. Experts previously told Insider the whistleblower's complaint is unlikely to sway the case, but it could convince the Twitter to settle with Musk for a lower price.