The actual public meltdown started there, but before that there was already a history of sales bullshit with unachievable promises with things like the hyperloop and solar tiles, which for those who were paying attention were enough to mentally classify Musk as part of the "Fishy and possible scam artist" category.

Musk hasn't really changed his swindling strategy much in the last couple of decades, he just started going beyond the script and sharing his actual opinions (which turned out to be "I'm a member of the Fascist elite" crap), possibly because the very cult of personality around him of all the fanboys made him think people loved him for him, rather than for the highly curate tech bro image (back when tech bros were seen as Heroes rather than Villains) he projected.