Imagine if this was the behaviour of a woman.

Imagine for a moment we lived in a world where a very famous and powerful woman, who has 14 children to at least four different fathers, told her team she was taking so many drugs it was affecting her bladder.

Turned up to a work farewell sporting a black eye.

Was embroiled in rumours she had stolen her co-worker's spouse.

And was still hailed as a hero by her boss.

"That world does not exist," Holly Wainwright said on Mamamia's Out Loud podcast.

She was, of course, referring to Elon Musk — Tesla founder, world's richest man and former "special government employee" for the US.

Although Musk may have done most of the things described above, he's not being held to the same level of scrutiny a woman would.

So let's deep dive into the chaos shall we?

The black eye, the farewell and the poaching claims.

The billionaire sparked curiosity last week when he turned up to the White House with a noticeable black eye during the farewell ceremony that marked the end of his 130-day stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

During the Oval Office press conference alongside President Donald Trump, Musk explained the bruising was the result of "horsing around" with his five-year-old son, X Æ A-12.

"I said, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face,' and he did," Musk told reporters, adding, "it turns out even a five-year-old punching you in the face actually does hurt."

During the formal farewell, Trump presented Musk with a golden key to the White House and insisted he wasn't "really leaving," saying the tech mogul would continue to advise him occasionally.

Musk, wearing a DOGE-branded baseball cap and a t-shirt with "The Dogefather" written on it, assured that his departure was "not the end of DOGE, but the beginning."

Elon Musk rocked up to the White House sporting a black eye last week. Image: Getty.

But, Musk now finds himself at the centre of White House poaching claims, and this may have created some tension between him and Trump.

Katie Miller — a top adviser, spokesperson for DOGE and wife of Stephen Miller, President Trump's chief policy head — has also left her position and is now working with Musk "full-time" in the private sector, CNN reports.

She has not responded to CNN's request for comment, and it's unclear whether her stint with DOGE has officially wrapped up or not, but the professional move has become the subject of drama.

Stephen Miller was publicly questioned about Musk's alleged drug use by reporters. He quickly shut the questioning down sharply, responding: "The drugs that we're concerned about are the drugs pouring across the southern border."

The ketamine allegations.

Also under the spotlight are recent allegations about Musk's ketamine use and its potential impact on his health. It comes a year after Musk told CNN he had a ketamine prescription, and used it to treat his depression.

According to a New York Times investigation, Musk allegedly told people he was taking ketamine so frequently that it was affecting his bladder, which is a known side effect of chronic ketamine use. The report claimed his drug consumption "went well beyond occasional use" and that he was using ketamine almost daily during the 2024 Trump campaign.

Multiple other outlets, including The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, and Rolling Stone picked up on these claims.

Musk strongly denied these recent allegations. In fact, he posted on his social media platform X to refute them.

"To be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off. I tried prescription ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven't taken it since then," he wrote.

In another post, he said: "I'm in meetings with dozens to hundreds of people every day and am photographed constantly. If this bs from NYT were true, it would have been EXTREMELY obvious."

A tangled personal life.

Musk has fathered 14 children with four women; Justine Wilson, Grimes, Shivon Zilis, and Ashley St. Clair.

As detailed by People Magazine in April 2025, Musk's children include Nevada (who tragically died as an infant), Vivian, Griffin, Kai, Saxon, Damian, X Æ A-12, Exa Dark Sideræl, Strider, Azure, Techno Mechanicus, Arcadia, Romulus and Seldon Lycurgus.

The 53-year-old welcomed his 14th child with Zilis, who is a director at Neuralink, one of Musk's companies,​​ in February 2025.

Musk is currently embroiled in high-profile custody disputes with Grimes publicly pleading for access to their children, and Ashley St. Clair suing him for sole custody of their son. She's also attempting to establish paternity.

Grimes has claimed she didn't see one of their children for five months during their ongoing battle and has begged him to keep their three children out of the public eye.

Despite this, he continues to appear in public with his children in what some describe as using them as "props".

X Musk sits on the shoulders of his father. Image: Getty.

Examining Musk's recent conduct, controversies and headlines, we must confront an uncomfortable truth; women in similar circumstances would face relentless moral condemnation.

It's no secret that women in leadership positions are held to impossibly high standards. The Handbook on Well-Being of Working Women, a collection of research and literature, states: "Women incur social and economic penalties for expressing masculine-typed emotions because they violate proscriptions against dominance for women. At the same time, when women express female-typed emotions, they are judged as overly emotional and lacking emotional control, which ultimately undermines women's competence and professional legitimacy."

The stark reality is that society permits powerful men behavioural latitudes that would immediately disqualify women from positions of influence.

So, one can't help but wonder; what would happen if a female CEO acted in the same manner as Musk?

Feature image: Getty.