Elon Musk Calls Ben Stiller the R-Word In 'Tropic Thunder' Reference

Elon Musk's using a movie reference to roast Ben Stiller ... but, he's got some up in arms over his choice of using an offensive slur.

Here's the deal ... Elon shared a post on X of someone bashing Ben for saying wokeness is killing edgier comedy and endorsing Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in this year's election.

This other post compared Ben to Simple Jack ... a reference to a character Stiller portrays in the 2008 satirical movie "Tropic Thunder."

Elon -- quoting a memorable moment from the film -- says Ben has gone "full r*****" ... though he didn't censor the word whatsoever.

Again, this is a reference to a scene in the flick where a bunch of other characters -- including Robert Downey Jr. in blackface -- give Ben's character grief for overdoing it with his Simple Jack performance. So, Elon's use of the word isn't totally out of the blue.

Obviously, there's two different reactions to Elon's post ... on one side, folks are upset he's using the word at all -- and, on the other, people are defending the billionaire for standing up to woke ideology.

ICYMI ... in an interview with Collider Ben said edgier comedy is just more difficult to get greenlit these days -- and, he doubts anyone would make "Tropic Thunder" in this climate.