Go f—- yourself, says Elon Musk in a post on X to brands like Apple that are pulling ads from the platform

Elon Musk says advertisers are trying to control and blackmail him by not paying for ads on his platform. His statement follows the recent trend of boycott by advertisers like Apple and Disney, who have stopped advertising on X.

In Short

• Elon Musk lashes out at brands like Apple and Disney for pulling ads from Twitter.
• The brands started to boycott the platform after Musk's controversial antisemitic post.
• Despite the backlash, Musk remains defiant saying that world will see how brands kill X.

The wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, has had a turbulent relationship with advertisers ever since he took over Twitter last year. Mr. Musk is known for being outspoken and critical, often going all out with his remarks. And recently, he again fanned the flames of controversy after endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on the social media platform. As a result, many brands, including Disney and Apple, have pulled advertising from Twitter in protest of his remarks

While Musk did apologize for the post at the DealBook Summit, he again lashed out at advertisers, calling them blackmailers. He stated that if brands don't want to advertise on the platform, then they should not.

In a conversation with The New York Times, Musk said, "If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself. Is that clear? I hope it isâ€æ Hey Bob (Iger), if you're in the audience, that's how I feel, don't advertise."

Adding to that, Musk made it clear that he is well aware that an advertising boycott will hurt the platform. However, he emphasised that if the platform shuts down, the "whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.

Notably, Musk's reply was to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who earlier, during the summit, said that Disney's partnership with X is no longer yielding positive benefits for his company. 'I have a lot of respect for Elon and what he has accomplishedâ€æ We know that Elon is larger than life in many respects, and that his name is very much connected to the companies he founded or owns. By taking the position he took in a public manner, we felt that the association was not necessarily a positive one for us,' Iger said.

Signalling to Iger and other advertisers to turn their backs on X, Musk said, 'I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me and to those who are antisemitic, and for that, I am quite sorry.

Meanwhile, after Musk, antisemitic post, a significant number of major advertisers, including Disney, Apple, and IBM, have started to stop placing advertisements on X. The post, which accused Jewish communities of promoting "hatred against whites," drew widespread condemnation and prompted a boycott of X by prominent brands. According to internal documents obtained by The New York Times, this advertiser boycott could potentially cost X up to $75 million in revenue this quarter.

In addition to advertisers, investors who offered billions of dollars to Musk for acquisition may also be unhappy with Musk's stance and everything unfolding with advertisers boycotting Twitter. According to The New York Times, advertising accounts for most of X's revenue, and Mr. Musk has hired industry veteran Linda Yaccarino to help mend ties with big brands. And Ms. Yaccarino was in the audience when he made his comments, publicly telling advertisers to stop blackmailing and cease sending advertisements if they want to.

Published By:
Divya Bhati
Published On:
Nov 30, 2023