Home » Twitter/X News • US business news » Elon Musk launches foul-mouthed rant against departing advertisers
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Elon Musk has launched a verbal assault aimed at advertisers departing X, accusing them of trying to blackmail him.
At the New York Times' DealBook Summit, Musk said such moves would kill the company.
He specifically called out companies like Disney, Apple, and Comcast participating in an ad boycott due to concerns over antisemitism.
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In the interview, Musk said, "I don't want them to advertise.
"If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go [expletive] yourself.
Go. [Expletive]. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you're in the audience, that's how I feel."
The controversy follows Musk's recent apology after being accused of anti-Semitism and adds to the challenges faced by X.
Read More: X Could Lose Nearly $75 Million In Revenue As Advertisers Withdraw
Musk said: "What this advertising boycott is going to do is it's going to kill the company.
"The whole world will know those advertisers killed the company, and we will document it in great detail."
X CEO Linda Yaccarino, tasked with bringing advertisers back to the platform, was present at the interview.
MS Yaccarino, in a repost of Musk's interview, called it a “candid interview.”
She said: "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".
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Elon Musk visited Israel after his controversial alleged endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory last month.
On Wednesday, November 29, he said: "I'm sorry for that tweet... it might be literally the worst and dumbest post that I've ever done."
However, he believes the ongoing ad boycott is not solely related to this incident, as numerous advertisers had already diverted their budgets elsewhere.
During a BBC interview, Musk had previously mentioned the return of almost all advertisers in April.
But three months later, he acknowledged a 50 percent drop in ad revenue in an X post.
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The decline precedes a report by the liberal group Media Matters, alleging evidence of ads placed next to Nazi content.
X refutes the claims, asserting that the report misrepresented the platform's user experience to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers.
In response, X has initiated legal action against Media Matters.
X, formerly Twitter, once heavily relied on advertising revenue (constituting about 90 percent of Twitter's revenue before Musk's takeover).
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