Anyone who is familiar with the story of Steve Jobs knows that the visionary rubbed quite a few people the wrong way, including many who worked closely with him for years.

The thing is that even since his passing it’s kind of taboo to call him out on it, something Elon Musk was aware of during a recent interview with GQ. His comments on the Apple whiz as follows:

“Sure,” he says. “I don’t know—I mean, the one time I met Steve Jobs, he was kind of a jerk. And everyone I know who met him…” He stops himself here, mid-sentence, and says he’d like to withdraw this answer. “Sorry. Hang on. The last thing I need is, like, more…”

Musk explains that he was introduced to Jobs by Google’s Larry Page at a party, and he tells me that Jobs didn’t know who he was, so it wasn’t some personal thing. “I mean, I can’t say beyond my personal experience. That is the only experience that I had.” To be clear, Musk has also expressed many times over the years his appreciation and admiration for what Jobs achieved, and he reiterates his wish not to be talking about this right now. “The last thing I need is to generate animosity, you know,” he says. “It just is not helpful.”

If you ask Fortune, relationships between Musk and Apple have always been a little iffy:

…it was Musk who has said on numerous occasions that he has poached Apple employees, and the iPhone maker had tried to respond by offering Tesla employees more cash. He has also scoffed at the Apple Watch and tauntingly invited Apple to join him in the electric car business. Most recently, in an October interview, Musk said that Apple has become the “Tesla Graveyard,” a place where employees who can’t hack it at Tesla, end up.

Maybe Musk should remember that Apple is valued at around $740 billion, which isn’t too bad for some washed up hacks who couldn’t get a car to drive itself.

[sources:gq&fortune]