Elon Musk curses out advertisers who left X over antisemitic content
Billionaire听贰濒辞苍听惭耻蝉办听told听补诲惫别谤迟颈蝉别谤蝉听that have fled his social media platform X听辞惫别谤听补苍迟颈蝉别尘颈迟颈肠听肠辞苍迟别苍迟听to “Go fuck yourself” in a fiery Wednesday interview.
His profanity-laced remarks followed a moment of contrition in a New York Times DealBook Summit interview. Mr. Musk said repeatedly he was sorry for publishing a tweet on Nov. 15 that agreed with an anti-Jewish post.
Mr. 惭耻蝉办听has faced a torrent of criticism ever since he agreed with a user听飞丑辞听falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. Mr. 惭耻蝉办听in his post said the user,听飞丑辞听referenced the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, was speaking “the actual truth.”
On Wednesday Mr. 惭耻蝉办听said he had “handed a loaded gun” to both detractors and聽补苍迟颈蝉别尘颈迟颈肠听people, describing his post as possibly the worst he had made during a history of messages that included many “foolish” ones.
The Tesla聽CEO bristled at the idea that he was聽补苍迟颈蝉别尘颈迟颈肠听and said that听补诲惫别谤迟颈蝉别谤蝉听飞丑辞听濒别蹿迟听X, formerly known as Twitter, should not think they could blackmail him.
“If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself,” he said.
“Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey, Bob, if you’re in the audience,” he added, in an apparent reference to Robert Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney, which pulled ads on X. Mr. Iger spoke earlier at the event and said that Disney felt the association with X following Mr. Musk‘s move “was not a positive one for us”. A spokesperson from Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“What I care ab辞耻迟听is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it. And what I see all听辞惫别谤听the place is people听飞丑辞听care ab辞耻迟听looking good while doing evil. Fuck them,” Mr. 惭耻蝉办听said.
Musk‘s expletives against听补诲惫别谤迟颈蝉别谤蝉听is the “closing chapter” for brands doing business with X, said Lou Paskalis, founder of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory and the former head of global media at Bank of America. “They’re not going to forget that,” he said.
Customers听飞丑辞听did not like him should consider the products his company make based on their quality, Mr. 惭耻蝉办听said, pointing to electric cars from Tesla and SpaceX rockets. “I will certainly not pander,” he said.
Mr. 惭耻蝉办听added that he himself arguably had done more for the environment, at Tesla, than anyone in the world, based on Tesla’s massive sales of electric vehicles.
“It would be fair to say, therefore, as a leader of the company, I’ve done more for the environment than everyone — any single human on Earth.”
Mr. Musk‘s comments came on the same day that US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the rise in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has reached a crisis point, saying it 聽worldwide and the future of Israel. “To us, the Jewish people, the rise in antisemitism is a crisis. A five-alarm fire that must be extinguished,” Mr. Schumer said in an emotional, 40-minute Senate speech.
Mr. Musk‘s post drew condemnation from the White House for what it called an “abhorrent promotion of聽补苍迟颈蝉别尘颈迟颈肠听and racist hate.”
The “Great Replacement” theory falsely claims that Jewish people and听濒别蹿迟ists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a “white genocide.”
Following the post, major US companies including Walt Disney DIS.N, Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal parent Comcast聽聽on X. A report from liberal watchdog group Media Matters precipitated the advertiser exit, which said it found ads next to posts that supported Nazism. The platform filed a lawsuit last week against Media Matters for defamation.
Mr. Musk‘s comments have put pressure on X听辞惫别谤all, including Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino. An executive told Reuters that she would remain at the company.
Mr. 惭耻蝉办听himself appeared resolved that X could fail financially and blamed听补诲惫别谤迟颈蝉别谤蝉.
“If the company fails because of advertiser boycott, it will fail because of an advertiser boycott. And that will be what bankrupt the company and that’s what everybody on earth will know,” he said. “Let the chips fall where they may.”
In the wake of the condemnation around his post, Mr. 惭耻蝉办听聽and toured the site of Hamas’ assault in the country on Oct. 7. On Monday, he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a live-streamed conversation on X.
Mr. 惭耻蝉办听on Wednesday said the trip had been planned before his message and was “independent” of the issue.
Mr. 惭耻蝉办听in Israel said he is against antisemitism and anything that “promotes hate and conflict” and stated that X would not promote hate speech. While there, he聽聽from the father of an Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas, which he promised to wear until all the hostages were free. He wore the dog-tag on stage on Wednesday.
“The fact that you came here speaks volumes of your commitment to try to secure a better future,” Netanyahu told Mr. 惭耻蝉办听during the conversation in Israel.
Mr. Musk‘s wide-ranging interview on Wednesday included discussions from freedom of speech to the environment to U.S. presidential politics.聽惭耻蝉办听said he thought he would not vote to re-elect President Joe Biden but did not say he would vote for his likely challenger, Donald Trump. – Reuters
