Elon Musk told a Twitter executive he 'didn't want assholes' on his team, report says

Elon Musk emailed Twitter staff on November 16 telling them to quit or sign up to an "extremely hardcore" culture. Getty Images

• Twitter's public policy VP had a phone call about job cuts with Elon Musk, the Irish Times reported.
• Sinead McSweeney said in a court statement that Musk said he "didn't want assholes" at Twitter. 
• She said Musk told her fired staff could be reinstated if they're "not negative" or "excellent".

A Twitter executive said Elon Musk told her he "did not want assholes" on his team and that fired staff could be reinstated if they were "not negative", the Irish Times reported. 

"He accepted that people could be talented but might impact the team negatively and he stated that he did not want assholes," Sinead McSweeney said, according to the newspaper.

Twitter's global vice-president for public policy made the comments in a statement submitted to the High Court in Dublin when seeking an injunction to stop the company from firing her.

In her statement, the Ireland-based executive said she spoke by phone to Musk on November 13 as well as to other senior associates about the company and job cuts in her team.

McSweeney was told by Musk that fired staff who were "excellent" should be reinstated, per the report, as long as they are "not negative" and perform in a "critical role."

The executive, who also leads the company's philanthropic efforts globally, was "temporarily reassured" by Musk's comments but learned two days later that the public policy team would be reduced by a fifth, according to the Irish Times report. 

McSweeney was granted the injunction on Friday and said she hadn't resigned but was still locked out of company systems after she didn't respond to Musk's ultimatum email.

Musk emailed Twitter employees at midnight on November 16 telling them to sign up to an "extremely hardcore" culture by clicking yes to a form in the email, or be deemed to have resigned.

McSweeney chose not to respond, as she claimed in her statement to the court that the terms included in the email were not clear, leaving her uncertain about her employment status. The injunction is in place until further notice from the court.

Twitter and McSweeney didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.