No record shows Musk ever said it. Fact-checkers trace the line to a January 2024 satire article on Esspots. Another satire site, PanoPerspectives, also ran it, and from there it spread on Facebook as if it were real. PolitiFact rated it False ↗.
“I'd rather drink sewer water than see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl” falsely attributed to Elon Musk. It began as a January 2024 satire article (Esspots) and was rated False by PolitiFact (June 4, 2024).
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Elon Musk. Use the credit shown above instead.
Can you use it?
? We couldn’t establish where this was first published, so there’s no rights status to give. Credit it as shown above — just don’t present it as public domain, and get permission for commercial or published reuse.
Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool
In context
Evoking the world of Esspots — story dated January 2024. Theme: "I'd rather drink sewer water than see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "I'd rather drink sewer water than see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
Where the line actually comes from
Origin
Breaking: Elon Musk Says ‘I’d Rather Drink Sewer Water Than See Taylor Swift At The Super Bowl’
Publisher
Esspots, a self-described satire site, January 2024
Also run by
PanoPerspectives, a satire site (archived Feb. 6, 2024)
Fact-check verdict
False (PolitiFact, Check Your Fact, Lead Stories); “Errado” (Observador)
Breaking: Elon Musk Says ‘I’d Rather Drink Sewer Water Than See Taylor Swift At The Super Bowl’
Satire headline
This is the satire headline as PolitiFact lists it in its sources. Quotle did not fetch the Esspots page itself. The fact-checkers give different January 2024 dates for it: PolitiFact says Jan. 30 and Lead Stories says Jan. 20. Check Your Fact transcribes the circulating wording as “I would rather drink sewer water than see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl.”
Feb. 9, 2024 — Check Your Fact ↗ rates the claim False. It finds that the story comes from PanoPerspectives, which calls itself a destination for “a satirical and comedic take on current events.” It adds that if Musk had said it, “media outlets would have covered it, yet none have.”
Feb. 27, 2024 — Portugal’s Observador ↗ rates it “Errado” (wrong). It also traces the line to the satire site PanoPerspectives.
June 4, 2024 — PolitiFact ↗ rates a May 23, 2024 Facebook post False. It finds “no credible news or public statements from Musk” and lists the Esspots and PanoPerspectives satire articles as the source.
June 4, 2024 — Lead Stories ↗ traces the meme to a Feb. 8, 2024 post by a Facebook page that says it posts satire, and traces the text itself to an Esspots satire article from January 2024.
The wording comes from 2024 satire web articles (Esspots, PanoPerspectives), not from anything Musk said or wrote. A 2024 work is nowhere near the public domain, but whether a one-line satirical headline is protected, and who would own it, is unclear. Quotle therefore asserts no rights status.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
How a satire headline became a “Musk quote”
This line was never a misremembered remark. It was written as satire, and once it was stripped of its satire label it got shared as a real quote.
✕
The quoteElon Musk Never said it
No interview, post or public statement contains it. PolitiFact found “no credible news or public statements from Musk to corroborate the claim” (PolitiFact ↗).
✕
OriginEsspots Satire
PolitiFact and Lead Stories trace the text to an Esspots article from January 2024. Esspots calls itself a satire and parody news outlet (Lead Stories ↗).
✕
Second publisherPanoPerspectives Satire
Check Your Fact found the story there and noted that “the story itself has two tags stating it is satire” (Check Your Fact ↗).
✕
SpreadA Facebook fan page Shared as real
Lead Stories traces the viral image to a Feb. 8, 2024 post by a page whose intro says “We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.” The image kept circulating after that, including in a May 23, 2024 post (Lead Stories ↗).
✓Elon Musk did not say it. The line is satire, first published in January 2024 on self-described satire sites, and it spread as a real quote. PolitiFact rated it False ↗.
Context
Why it spread
The line appeared in the weeks before the February 2024 Super Bowl, when Taylor Swift’s attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games was a running news story. At the time, Check Your Fact noted “debate about whether or not she will appear at the Super Bowl.” A celebrity rivalry that sounds plausible, plus a crude punchline, is the usual recipe for satire that gets shared as fact.
The fake also had a long life. The same wording was still being shared as real in May 2024, and four fact-checkers in two countries ended up debunking it.
“If Musk had said that, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have.” — Check Your Fact
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Self-described satire and parody news website · story dated January 2024
Esspots is a website that calls itself a satire and parody news outlet, according to Lead Stories ↗. PolitiFact and Lead Stories both trace the “sewer water” line to an Esspots article from January 2024. Check Your Fact and Observador found the same story on a second self-described satire site, PanoPerspectives.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Best available source
Ciara O’Rourke, “Elon Musk didn’t choose sewer water over Taylor Swift,” PolitiFact, June 4, 2024, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jun/04/viral-image/elon-musk-didnt-choose-sewer-water-over-taylor-swi/ (traces the line to satire articles on Esspots and PanoPerspectives, early 2024).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I'd rather drink sewer water than see Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/id-rather-drink-sewer-water-than-see-taylor-swift-at-the/