Elon Musk has hit back at fleeing advertisers with a bad-humoured, profanity-laden tirade whilst speaking at an event this week – telling hesitant firms to “go fuck [themselves].”
The news comes as yet another controversy is set to embrace X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter, as he appeared to openly agree with a tweet that some have deemed antisemitic.
You have said the actual truth
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023
Musk made his latest controversial remarks at the New York Times’ ‘DealBook’ summit, openly criticising major international brands such as Walt Disney, Apple, IBM and Coca-Cola for pulling ads on X, a move which could cost the network close to £60 million in lost revenue.
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In a widely-circulated video of the interview, Musk can be heard saying: “Don’t advertise, if someone’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself.
“What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it is going to kill the company,” he added. “And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.”
Speaking candidly on her boss’ comments, X CEO Linda Yaccarino called the interview “wide ranging and candid” before making an impassioned plea to advertisers: “X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street – and the X community is powerful and is here to welcome you.”
