Elon Musk insults renegade X-advertisers

Tech billionaire Elon Musk verbally attacked rogue advertisers on his online platform X during a public appearance. «What if someone tries to blackmail me with advertisements? Blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself!”

Musk complained on stage at a New York Times conference on Wednesday. He specifically mentioned Disney boss Bob Iger. A boycott by advertisers will kill X, he said.

When asked whether he, as the richest person in the world, would keep the platform afloat permanently, Musk seemed to indicate that he would accept X’s financial failure. The advertisers who placed their ads would then have to explain themselves to the public, he said.

Several major companies stopped advertising A day later, hate speech researchers demonstrated in a report how ads from well-known brands were placed on X next to Nazi posts.

After weeks of controversy, Musk admitted for the first time that his “truth post” was a mistake and explained that his views had been misunderstood. He simply wanted to tell Jewish organizations that it was not wise to support radical Islamists who wanted their destruction.

Musk’s X contribution was condemned by the White House, among others, and received support in anti-Semitic circles. He then repeatedly emphasized that he was not an anti-Semite. Musk was received in Israel on Monday. There he visited, among other things, a kibbutz that was attacked by the Islamist Hamas on October 7, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Musk emphasized on Wednesday that the visit had nothing to do with the controversy surrounding his X contribution. (sda/dpa)