Elon Musk has once again had a social media spat with a public figure, but this time it’s the return of old rival Stephen King after the iconic horror author returned to X (formerly Twitter) after an extended absence.

If there’s one thing that you can rely on Elon Musk to do is take to social media in the face of any form of criticism.

SNL has been a keen focus for him in recent weeks after Mike Myers became his resident impressionist, but he’s previously lashed out at celebrities like Cardi B and even infamous hacking group Anonymous.

Someone he always seems to gravitate back towards though is horror icon Stephen King, who has repeatedly clashed with Musk in the past and has remained ultra critical of the current Trump administration.

These battles did subside for a little while after King officially announced his departure from X, outlining that he “tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic,” on November 14 last year, just over a week after the US election.

However, a couple of weeks ago he announced his return to the platform, asking his 6.9 million followers if they missed him before almost immediately ripping into the current government, with Elon’s role as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency a particular focal point.

King has released a flurry of critical posts targeted at Musk and Trump following his return to X (Tracey Biel/Variety via Getty Images)

King’s first post after returning called President Trump a “traitorous, Putin-loving dips***,” adding that the same “goes double for Elon!”

Among other Trump-targeted jabs, King also claimed that “Trump and Vance threw Zelenskyy under the bus because people are angry about Musk’s crazy cutting spree,” and retweeted an announcement from Ontario premier Doug Ford about the cancellation of Canadian Starlink contracts.

Musk, of course, couldn’t resist getting in on the act himself, as he responded to a joke King made about Trump by asking: “How do we know you’re really Stephen Ling?” [sic]

Spelling mistakes aside, King’s extensive follower count would indicate that it is indeed the horror author, although Musk’s controversial changes to the verification badge shortly after taking over Twitter have made instances like this harder to confidently distinguish.

Their latest clash has ignited a rather poorly received joke from Musk, after King wrote, likely once again in reference to the current government: “It’s official: The lunatics are running the asylum.”

Musk responded remarking: “Never a dull moment! Admit it, you love asylums [laughing emoji].”

Things haven’t always been as hostile as they are now though, as you only have to look back around two years to see King receive praise from the richest man on Earth.

Musk wasn’t always as hostile towards King, once welcoming his thoughts and opinions (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Suggestions are welcome Mr. [Crown emoji],” Musk replied to a now-deleted post from the author, likely offering his opinion following Musk’s then-recent purchase of the site.

Musk also added that “Stephen King is one of the most creative people on Earth. While I may not agree with everything he says, I do actually want to hear it.”

It’s likely that he won’t feel the same way now though, after things turned sour in the summer of last year with Musk in particular posting a bizarre AI-generated image of King with a ‘zucchini’ in his mouth.

“It’s amazing how he has tried to yuck it up to Stephen King for years, got continually and unceremoniously shot down time after time after time,” wrote one user on Reddit, “and now the only thing he can come up with is a sh***y AI prompt hahahhah what a f***ing child.”