Elon Musk says an advertising boycott could kill off X in an expletive-ridden rant.
Speaking at an event in New York, Musk accused companies that joined an ad boycott of “trying to blackmail” him. At the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Musk told advertisers avoiding X to “go f***” themselves.
Concerns have been raised in recent weeks about antisemitism on the platform, which was formerly known as Twitter. This includes a post from Musk himself, reports the BBC.
The issue has prompted some firms to pause advertising on the site. And, on Wednesday, Musk admitted the post was possibly the “dumbest” thing he has shared.
Musk’s sweary response to advertisers came after a question about a boycott from companies including Disney, Apple and Comcast. It has caused a stir at the gathering.
Musk said: “I don’t want them to advertise. If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go f*** yourself.
“Go. f***. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel.”
The businessman was referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger who also appeared at the summit earlier in the day. Musk also told the summit an advertising boycott could kill X.
He 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.”
Musk, after a recent visit to Israel, appeared to personally back an antisemitic conspiracy theory. He said: “I’m sorry for that tweet… it might be literally the worst and dumbest post that I’ve ever done.”
The advertising boycott does not however boil down to a single post. Many firms have already been spending elsewhere.
Recent figures suggested advertising on X was down 50%. When it was Twitter, pre-takeover, around 90% of its revenue was from advertising.
It is unclear how much of X’s revenue comes from ads as it is now a private company and does not publish quarterly reports.
