Elon Musk says he's finally going to host PewDiePie's show about internet memes — here's why that's a big deal for the YouTuber

pewdiepie elon musk

Elon Musk said in a tweet on Monday night that he recently recorded a video that will go up on the YouTube channel for PewDiePie, the most popular video creator on the platform.
Musk first floated the idea of making an appearance on PewDiePie's "Meme Review" video series, in which the creator reviews popular memes, in January.
Unless this is all an elaborate troll, it sounds like Musk finally found time to host the show — with some help from the "Rick and Morty" cocreator Justin Roiland.
PewDiePie holds the title of the most subscribed-to channel on YouTube, but his throne has been threatened in the last few months by the Bollywood production company T-Series.

We may soon see a collaboration between two of the biggest troll-loving personalities on the internet: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the YouTuber PewDiePie.

Musk, whose previous tweets have landed him in major legal trouble and also at the top of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's favorite-tweeters list, said on Monday night that he had just recorded a segment for "Meme Review," a video series that PewDiePie hosts on YouTube.

Did meme review last night with Justin Roiland from @RickandMorty
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 18, 2019

This isn't the first time Musk and PewDiePie have interacted on Twitter. Musk first floated the idea of hosting PewDiePie's meme-focused show in a January tweet.

Host meme review? pic.twitter.com/k2SFtIUh1k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2019

PewDiePie responded and invited Musk to host an episode of "Meme Review." At the time, however, it was tough to gauge whether Musk would actually make an appearance as guest host or whether it would turn out to be an elaborate troll, or something he'd like to do but his busy schedule wouldn't allow. A video from early February didn't seem to give fans much hope, as PewDiePie said they would have to wait until "the next millennia" for Musk to make an appearance.

In a series of back-and-forth messages, Musk offered up an excuse a few weeks later as to why he wasn't able to host (he was recently in Norway). PewDiePie seemed to understand, but it sounded like the saga might be over.

✋🤠🤚 dont shoot

please host 🙏

we need this! https://t.co/6l66JTw7Vq
— ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (@pewdiepie) January 27, 2019

Slightly suspicious

But granted 😤👏
— ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (@pewdiepie) February 11, 2019

But Musk was back with an update a week later, saying in a tweet Monday that he recorded the show with the "Rick and Morty" cocreator Justin Roiland. Business Insider reached out to PewDiePie in an effort to confirm that Musk and Roiland will host an upcoming episode of "Meme Review," but hasn't heard back yet.

PewDiePie is fighting to keep his crown as the most popular YouTuber in the world

Between Musk's Twitter following and PewDiePie's YouTube subscribers, the two have 110 million fans combined. While both have grown their audiences and fan bases considerably through their use of social media, it's landed them both in serious trouble before, too.

Musk is known for his active presence on Twitter, where he's revealed breaking news about his companies, clashed with high-profile figures, and sent out "false and misleading statements" that landed him in major trouble with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meanwhile, PewDiePie runs the most popular YouTube channel in the world, with more than 86 million subscribers. PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, has a history of making offensive remarks in his videos. His actions led to YouTube canceling a season of his original series set to air on YouTube Premium.

But PewDiePie has seen his subscriber base spike by 700% over the last few months. The massive influx in subscribers can be attributed to PewDiePie's bid to maintain his role as YouTube's most subscribed-to channel, a title he's been in jeopardy of losing to the Bollywood music channel T-Series.

Since the race between the two popular channels started, PewDiePie has found help from fans and fellow YouTubers that want the star to keep his crown. A hacker altered a page on The Wall Street Journal's website to say the paper was supporting PewDiePie and people should subscribe. Hundreds of thousands of printers across the globe printed messages in support of him. As many as 5,000 smart TVs and Chromecast devices were hacked and showed messages encouraging people to subscribe to PewDiePie.

A YouTuber with millions of subscribers himself has also been heavily promoting PewDiePie. Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, purchased radio ads and billboards promoting PewDiePie, and even appeared in a stunt supporting the YouTuber at this year's Super Bowl.

On Twitter, Donaldson has also interacted with Musk and tried to further the idea of having him on PewDiePie's channel. He said that in return for Musk appearing on PewDiePie's video, he would pay him $5 and also buy a Tesla.