Elon Musk launches expletive rant at advertisers who boycotted his social media platform X

30 November 2023, 08:54 | Updated: 30 November 2023, 08:58

Elon Musk has launched a foul-mouthed rant attacking advertisers who abandoned his social media platform X after they accused him of amplifying anti-Semitic posts.

Musk accused companies like Apple and Disney of engaging in the ad boycott and trying to blackmail him.

"Go f**k yourself," the X boss told the companies in an interview at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday.

A number of companies pulled their advertising from the platform last month after Musk endorsed a post accusing Jewish people of "dialectical hatred against whites".

He responded to the post by replying to the user: "You have said the actual truth."

Musk ruled that he would refuse to bow to advertisers who threatened to boycott X - the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f*** yourself. Go. F*** yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is," Musk said.

He then appeared to address Disney chief executive Bob Iger, stating: "Hey Bob, if you're in the audience, that's how I feel."

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The Disney boss had earlier explained at the same conference that the entertainment company had pulled its advertising from X because "we just felt that the association… was not necessarily a positive one for us".

Musk explained that any prolonged advertising boycott could "kill" X.

"That will be what bankrupts the company and that is what everybody on Earth will know," Musk continued.

Companies removing their advertising from X could result in up to $75 million in lost revenue by the end of the year, The New York Times reported last week.

The businessman did concede that his response to the initial tweet that led to the boycott as "literally the worst and dumbest post that I've ever done".

"I should in retrospect not have replied to that one person and should have written in greater length what I meant,” Musk said.

“But those clarifications were ignored by the media and essentially I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me and arguably to those who are antisemitic. And for that I’m quite sorry, that was not my intention," he continued.