The Global Story - Citizen Vigilante and Elon Musk’s war on ‘woke’ films
Download Citizen Vigilante and Elon Musk’s war on ‘woke’ films
Citizen Vigilante is a low-budget action thriller starring actor Armie Hammer as a vigilante who hunts down migrant criminals in Europe. The movie faced a muted reception - until Elon Musk posted it to his hundreds of millions of followers on X.com.
We speak to journalist Mike Wendling to understand why this film has become a lightning rod for political and cultural debate, and what its sudden rise reveals about the far-reaching influence of the world’s richest man.
Producers: Aron Keller and Hannah Moore
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Photo: Elon Musk at the Viva Technology conference, June 16, 2023. Credit: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo.
Mix: Travis Evans
Video journalist: Matt Pintus
Senior news editor: China Collins
Published on Thursday, 9th July 2026.
Available Podcasts from The Global Story
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Global Story webpage.