Elon Musk has always wanted the Cybertruck to be the vehicle everyone talks about. After a bizarre video went viral over the weekend, he got his wish, just not in the way he intended. The rumor grew so outlandish and spread so far that Tesla, a company that famously doesn’t have a public relations department, was forced to do something it rarely does: publicly deny it.

The incident highlights the Cybertruck’s strange and precarious position. It’s a vehicle so polarizing and so relentlessly hyped by its creator that it has become a magnet for controversy and, now, viral hoaxes.

The Viral Hoax

The drama started on Sunday when a user named “bighuey313” posted a frantic video on Instagram from the driver’s seat of his supposedly stranded Cybertruck.

“Wtf I’m in the middle of traffic, bro,” the user says, panning his camera over a dashboard screen displaying an alarming message: “Tesla Cybertruck De-Activated. Critical Issue Detected | Contact Customer Service, Comply with Cease & Desist to Re-Activate.”

“Everything is locked. Cybertruck deactivated,” he continues. “I can’t move the car, bro, I’m stranded as f**k.”

In a follow-up post, the user shared a photo of a supposed “cease and desist” letter from Tesla, claiming the company was taking legal action against him for writing a song titled “Cybertruck.” The implication was terrifying: Tesla had remotely disabled his vehicle over a minor legal dispute.

He also claims Tesla sent him a cease and desist letter because he made a song titled Cybertruck or something like that.

That’s why the error message in the video mentions a cease and desist. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1zdtGApEfj

— Jeremy Judkins (@jeremyjudkins_) August 11, 2025

The video exploded across every major social platform. But as it spread, eagle-eyed users began pointing out inconsistencies, noting that the signature on the letter was from a Tesla lawyer who no longer used that title.

Tesla’s Rare Denial

The rumor became so damaging that on Monday, Tesla’s official account on X posted a rare, direct denial.

“This is fake – that’s not our screen,” Tesla wrote. “Tesla does NOT disable vehicles remotely.”

This is fake – that’s not our screen.

Tesla does NOT disable vehicles remotely. https://t.co/QFOLG74AJI

— Tesla (@Tesla) August 11, 2025

Why This Hoax Stuck

The fact that Tesla had to respond at all speaks to the Cybertruck’s troubled reputation. As Gizmodo has previously reported, the sci-fi pickup has been a commercial bust. Its new vehicle sales plunged by over 50% in the second quarter, and its resale value has crashed by more than 30% in the used car market.

This reality is a stark contrast to the relentless hype from Musk, who has called the truck “apocalypse-level safe” and “built bullet tough.” This combination of high-profile hype and real-world failure has made the Cybertruck a perfect target. People are primed to believe the worst about it, and the idea of a powerful, faceless corporation remotely disabling a customer’s vehicle taps into the deepest fears of EV skeptics.

For Tesla, the stakes were too high to ignore. While the recent, last-minute rush for expiring EV tax credits has given the Cybertruck a temporary sales pulse, its long-term viability is still in question. A viral rumor about the company having a remote “kill switch” is the last thing a struggling brand needs. The entire saga shows that the Cybertruck is a cultural lightning rod, and Tesla will be forced to keep putting out the fires it inevitably creates.

For a truck that’s already struggling to win over buyers — and is increasingly viewed as a commercial flop — even a fake viral story can further erode its image.