“What a joyful day!” the iconic singer and actress wrote on Instagram and Bluesky. “I sold my (gulp) Tesla!” Seventy-nine-year-old Bette Midler has long been known for being an environmental advocate, so the fact she owned an energy-efficient Tesla isn’t a big surprise, but given her somewhat well-documented political leanings, it’s also not a shock that she chose to part ways with that particular electric vehicle.
In a post on since-deactivated accounts on both Instagram and BlueSky, Midler, who founded the New York Restoration Project in 1995, wrote that Tesla has become “a symbol of racism, greed and ignorance.”
“Life is so much better!!!” she continued.
Her opinion evidently shifted after Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, aligned himself with the far right politically and contributed almost $3 million to President Donald Trump’s election campaign. Then, of course, Musk proceeded to lead Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts after he won the election, helping Trump eliminate a slew of federal programs and cutting thousands of government jobs.
Though Musk has since had a falling out with Trump and often speaks out against him and his administration, during the fraught early months of the administration, many consumers chose to protest Tesla products.
As for Midler, she has openly criticized Trump for years, and months prior to her Tesla announcement, she had already quit posting on X (formerly Twitter) which Musk owns, due to his support of Trump’s presidency.
Other celebrities also have publicly gotten rid of their Tesla cars, including Grammy Award-winner Sheryl Crow, who posted a video of her Tesla being towed away in February 2025. Crow says she sold the car and donated the money to NPR, which has lost funding thanks to Trump administration cuts.
“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with,” Crow wrote on Instagram. “So long Tesla.”
It’s not just celebrities, though. In the wake of Trump’s election, Tesla stock has continued to decline. Back in April, Reuters reported that sales declined by 9% in the first quarter of 2025, with the decline expected to continue. Significantly, Tesla sales declined for the first time ever in 2024, when Musk was campaigning alongside Donald Trump.
