Elon Musk Slams X advertisers

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk

Elon Musk has criticised advertisers who have left X, warning that they will kill the social media platform. At an event in New York, he accused companies that have joined an ad boycott of the site formerly known as Twitter of trying to blackmail him. Musk apologised for a post he made about antisemitism, calling it "dumb" and causing a stir at the gathering of leaders from business, politics, and culture.

Musk said he didn't want them to advertise, and if someone was going to blackmail him with advertising or money, go "expletive" yourself. He referred to Disney chief executive Bob Iger, who spoke at the summit earlier. Linda Yaccarino, X's chief executive, has been charged with bringing advertisers back to the platform.

Musk also said that advertisers could kill X. He said the advertising boycott would destroy the company, and the world would know those advertisers killed the company. She has since reposted her "candid interview," adding her perspective on advertising that "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."

Many advertisers had already decided to spend their dollars elsewhere, and Musk acknowledged in a post on X that ad revenue had fallen by 50% three months later. X has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, which claims the group's report had "misrepresented the real user experience of X" to "undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers".

It's hard to see how Musk's comments will bring advertisers running back, as the company is heavily reliant on their money. It is unclear how much of X's revenue currently comes from ads, as it's now a private company and no longer publishes quarterly reports.