'Musk's position not positive': Why Disney pulled ads from X
What's the story
Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, explained why his company has stopped advertising on Elon Musk's social media platform X.
While speaking at the New York Times Dealbook Summit, Iger stated, "By him (Musk) taking the position that he took in quite a public manner, we just felt that the association with that position and Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us, and we decided we would pull our advertising."
Insights
Musk's support for a tweet led advertisers to withdraw ads
Earlier this month, Musk supported a tweet claiming that Jewish people possess a "dialectical hatred" toward white people.
"Jewish communties have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them," a user wrote on X.
The content of this post is believed to be frequently used by white supremacist conspiracy theorists.
To this post, Musk replied, "You have said the actual truth."
Twitter Post
White House called the post "antisemitic and racist hate"
You have said the actual truth
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023
Details
Other companies have also pulled ads from X
Disney isn't the only company to withdraw advertising from X following the controversy.
Other big names like Apple, Comcast, IBM, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros have also followed suit.
The New York Times (NYT) estimates that X could lose around $75 million in advertising revenue by year's end due to this controversy.
Approximately 200 companies, including divisions of Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft, are anticipated to remove their ads from the platform.
What Next?
Musk responds to Iger, saying 'Go f * yourself'
Speaking about the impact of an advertising boycott on X's business, Musk during the same NYT summit said, "What it's going to do is it's going to kill the company, and the whole world will know the advertisers killed the company."
"If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? blackmail me with money? Go f**k yourself."
Taking a dig at Iger, he continued, "Hey Bob, if you are in the audience that's how I feel. Don't advertise."