Elon Musk Tells Advertisers That Left X Platform, "Go F-ck Yourself"
Elon Musk tells Disney's Bob Iger and other advertises to "go f-ck" themselves.
Advertisers are leaving X (the social network previously known as Twitter) in droves after Elon Musk shared an anti-Semitic stance on on the platform earlier this month. In response to those advertisers, Musk isn't mincing his words. The magnate took to a recent event to share his message to any advertiser leaving the platform, "Go f-ck yourself." Musk made the comments at the New York Times' Dealbook Summit after being asked what his message to the business leaders and Disney chief Bob Iger, in particular, would be.
"Don't advertise. No [I don't want them to advertise,]" Musk said during the panel. "Is somebody going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Is someone trying to blackmail me with money? Go f-ck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is."
whoa — “go fuck yourself,” Elon Musk says to Bob Iger and others who pull advertising from X
— j.d. durkin (@jd_durkin) November 29, 2023
at this point it’s almost as if he’s watching the old Iron Man movies and doing a reverse Tony Stark impression pic.twitter.com/csXxeLH2wG
Musk then jokingly asked if Iger was sitting in the audience given he was also involved with the event. The Disney boss touched on the controversy earlier in the day, saying X was not a company Disney wanted to be associated with.
"I have a lot of respect for Elon and what he has accomplished," Iger clarified. "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 him taking the position he took in a public manner, we felt that the association was not necessarily a positive one for us and we decided we would pull our advertising.
During his appearance at the summit, Iger also criticized some of the decision making by his predecessor/successor Bob Chapek. "I was disappointed in what I was seeing in the transition period and while I was out," Iger added (via the Times). He added, "I worked hard at distancing myself from it."
In addition to Disney, other companies to have pulled their advertising from the service include Apple, NBCUniversal, IBM, Oracle, and Comcast.
According to a report from last month, X/Twitter is now worth approximately $19 billion, or less than half of the $45 billion Musk ended up paying for the service.