Elon Musk faces backlash over comments, advertisers pull out
On Wednesday, Elon Musk, the proprietor of platform X, stated in an interview at the 'New York Times' conference that an advertiser boycott could threaten the survival of his company. He also directed expletives at the advertisers who he believes are "blackmailing" him into stepping down. Furthermore, he acknowledged that his message endorsing anti-Semitic theories was ill-judged.
8:28 AM EST, November 30, 2023
"This advertiser boycott could be the death of the company," Musk warned during an interview at the DealBook Summit, hosted by 'The New York Times'. His remarks came in response to the cascading withdrawal of advertisers from X (previously known as Twitter) sparked by the distribution of extremist content and his own controversial posts.
Musk, originating from South Africa, told those companies that had pulled their ads to cease advertising on X (formerly known as Twitter).
"If anyone wants to blackmail me with ads, or money, they can go screw themselves..." the entrepreneur said defiantly. He repeated this sentiment, directing it, among other people, to Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney who was in attendance.
Elon Musk clarifies his remarks
Disney is among the business entities that have stopped advertising on X, along with IBM, Apple, Warner Bros., Discovery, and recently, the 'Washington Post'. This action was taken following Musk's endorsement of a user's claim that Jews incite racial hatred towards whites. He later qualified his statement, saying that "not all Jewish communities" behave this way.
During Wednesday’s conference, the billionaire conceded that it was "one of the most foolish things, if not the most foolish thing he has done on the platform," effectively handing a weapon to his detractors and anti-Semitic critics. He then attempted to clarify his stance, explaining that he was referring to individuals within the Jewish community who fund "activist groups that endorse Hamas."
