In a now-viral interview, Elon Musk has blasted corporations who he says are trying to “blackmail” X (formerly Twitter) by withholding advertising, telling them to “go f**k yourselves”, and saying the world would know they “killed the company”.
“Don’t advertise. If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is,” he said in response to a question about advertisers leaving X after recent controversies.
.@elonmusk to corporations pulling ads from X:
"Don't advertise. If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is." pic.twitter.com/GuhIHWjei9
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 29, 2023
Musk said that if major corporations wanted to leave and advertising fell sharply, that would “kill the company, and the whole world will know the advertisers killed the company”.
“Let the chips fall where they may,” Musk told stunned interviewer, Andrew Ross Sorkin, at The New York Times Dealbook Summit.
The Tesla founder was accused of supporting anti-Semitism with a poorly worded tweet that he posted several days ago, which he later clarified when he expanded upon his remark. He was subsequently defended by multiple high profile Jewish figures who said that they did not believe that he was anti-Semitic, the Daily Wire reports.
Addressing his remarks during the interview, he said that he had done his best to clarify what he meant by his tweet.
“Once in a while I will say something foolish,” he said. “I did my best to clarify that.” He said that what he meant was there was a natural affinity for persecuted people and criticised those who funded Hamas. He strongly rejected the clam that he was antisemitic and said his tweet had been misunderstood.
Chief Executive of X Corp, Linda Yaccarino said that “X is enabling an information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people. We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions.”
She said that Musk “also offered an apology, an explanation and an explicit point of view about our position.”
“X is enabling an information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people. We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions. And here’s my perspective when it comes to advertising: 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. To our partners who believe in our meaningful work — Thank You,” she posted.
Today @elonmusk gave a wide ranging and candid interview at @dealbook 2023. He also offered an apology, an explanation and an explicit point of view about our position. X is enabling an information independence that's uncomfortable for some people. We're a platform that allows… https://t.co/PSmSKRkJSq
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) November 30, 2023
The backlash from Musk tweet on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict led advertisers to depart the platform, though some had already departed when Musk first bought out Twitter, unhappy with the site’s moderation policies.
The platform is experiencing a negative cash flow, Musk said in July, due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue.
Musk also spoke about Tesla, Free speech, SpaceX and Starlink, and his views on
The full interview can be seen here:
FULL INTERVIEW: Elon Musk tells advertisers trying to boycott X, 'Go Fuck Yourself', says, “What I see all over the place is people who care about looking good, while doing evil. Fuck them,” says he will not vote for Joe Biden in 2024, says Tesla has done more to help the… pic.twitter.com/DKNOY42gEm
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) November 30, 2023