Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, sent a strong message to Disney CEO Bob Iger and other advertisers who were pulling out from his platform.
This came in the wake of allegations of antisemitism against Musk. During an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Musk stated that he hoped these companies would stop advertising permanently and used explicit language to express his sentiment, saying “Go f* yourself” to those who were leaving his platform.
Musk’s comments were in response to a mass exodus of advertisers from his platform, X, following his endorsement of a post that was criticized for being antisemitic.
He accused these companies of trying to blackmail him with their advertising dollars, and emphasized that he would not compromise his free speech policies for monetary gain.
Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, was specifically called out by Musk during his remarks. Iger had earlier spoken about Disney’s decision to pause its advertising with X, stating that the association with Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for Disney.
In response, Musk used explicit language directed at Iger and others who were pulling their advertising from X.
Elon responds to X advertises, specifically Disney CEO Bob Iger: “If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself”
— Stock Talk Weekly (@stocktalkweekly) November 29, 2023
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Musk later expressed some regret for engaging with the tweet that led to the exodus of advertisers from X, stating, “I should have not replied to that particular person… I essentially handed a loaded gun to those who hate me”.
Despite this, he maintained his stance against the advertisers, suggesting that if the boycott continued and led to the bankruptcy of X, the public would blame the brands rather than him.