(NewsReady.com) – Rumors of a fight between Twitter CEO Elon Musk and Facebook founder and Meta Platforms head Mark Zuckerberg have circulated over the last few weeks. Recent news reports indicate that Italian authorities offered to let the two men use the Roman Colosseum for their grudge match.
On June 20, Musk responded to a tweet discussing unconfirmed rumors that Meta planned to launch a rival to his Twitter platform. He responded that he was “sure” Planet Earth couldn’t wait to be “exclusively” under Zuckerberg’s thumb. Another user warned Musk to be careful since the Facebook founder had been studying jiu-jitsu. Musk replied, advising that he was “up for a cage match” if Zuckerberg agreed.
The following day, the Facebook CEO posted a screenshot of Musk’s challenge with the addition of a black block captioned “Send Me Location” in a since-expired story on his Instagram page. He quickly posted a video of him training with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt champion Mikey Musumeci.
Then, on June 29, TMZ Sports posted an article claiming Italy’s Ministry of Culture offered to let the two Big Tech giants use the Roman Colosseum for their cage match. Musk responded by posting a tweet advising his followers that there was a “chance” the fight would take place at the iconic location. A few minutes later, he tweeted again, stating that he needed to work on his “endurance,” along with a short clip of a match in the iconic Roman landmark from “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.”
Need to work on my endurancehttps://t.co/jjh7uxfwC6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2023
Later that day, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published a statement from the Cultural Ministry advising that the rumors it offered the Roman Colosseum for the cage match were false, noting the use of the site was almost always limited to high-profile charitable events. However, the ministry advised it would allow Musk and Zuckerberg to use it provided they agreed to meet two conditions.
First, the event would have to be a “non-violent challenge.” The ministry suggested a “kind of certamen, a duel using Latin verses.” Second, the two men would have to commit to making a “suitable economic contribution” for the “protection of Italian historical heritage … perhaps a share to Emilia Romagna,” a region in Italy devastated by floods in May.
Copyright 2023, NewsReady.com
