Musk bluntly tells off advertisers that pulled ads from X

Elon Musk told advertisers that recently stopped spending money on X to “go f— yourself,” only he used the full curse word, and told them not to bother coming back, speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference on Wednesday. Musk said advertisers were “blackmailing” him by withholding ad dollars on X, formerly Twitter, and told any of those advertisers to shove off. One of the advertisers, Disney, was at the same event, represented by CEO Bob Iger. Earlier in the day, Iger addressed Disney’s decision to pull ads from X, saying affiliating with X was “not necessarily a positive for us,” according to The New York Times. “Go f— yourself,” Musk said, repeating the phrase, according to video shared on social media. “Is that clear?” Musk’s words were rippling through the ad world immediately, with even non-boycotting advertisers scratching their heads. “Global heads of media will be on the phone tomorrow,” said one major advertising executive from a brand that still spends on X. “The ad industry talks, and tomorrow we will figure out what we do next. There’s going to be a lot of people who say they want to block it.” The ad exec, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that X CEO Linda Yaccarino was in the audience when Musk specifically called out Iger, the Disney CEO. “Cursing on stage, calling out advertisers, saying fuck you,” this ad exec said. “You just don’t get to do that. You can think that, but no way can you do that. I am in shock.” Escalating comments X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The outburst was Musk’s strongest statement in the past two weeks against a growing brand bandwagon against X. Advertisers including Apple, NBCUniversal, Paramount, IBM and more, along with Disney, quit buying ads on X following reports from a group called Media Matters about antisemitic and other harmful material running near brands’ content on the site. Related news: X sues Media Matters On Nov. 15, Musk also came under pressure after he posted a reply on X that seemed to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory. X has been in a tight spot ever since Musk bought the company late last year for $44 billion. Last month, X’s internal valuation was reportedly $19 billion, largely because of advertisers reducing spending on the site even before the latest turmoil. There have been signs that top brands, including Coca-Cola and AT&T, spent about 95% less money on X ads in the first 10 months of this year, compared to the first 10 months of 2022, according to a recent report from sales intelligence firm MediaRadar. Musk once touted Apple as X’s “biggest advertiser,” and the iPhone maker was among the brands that froze ad campaigns there. Musk has had public fights with advertisers before, including a high-profile one with Apple. In November 2022, a month after he took over the company, Musk called out Apple on X, saying the company had “mostly stopped advertising.” By December, the sides had reconciled and Apple was back. Advertisers have been on-again-off-again with X because while it can be volatile, it’s also a catalyst for marketing. Brands are often the subject of memes and trends that can be hard to ignore, and the platform plays a powerful role in culture. Musk’s posting habits, however, have landed him in trouble. At the DealBook event, he said he regretted his tweet from two weeks ago that responded to an antisemitic trope.

Musk bluntly tells off advertisers that pulled ads from X

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