Musk Tells Advertisers 'Go F*** Yourself' Amid Controversial Post Backlash; What Led To It? Find Details

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the controversial figure at the helm of X (formerly Twitter), has ignited a war of words with advertisers, telling them to "go f₹&* themselves." This outburst comes in the wake of a mass exodus of major companies, including Disney and Apple, pulling their advertising from X due to an alleged anti-Semitic post by Musk.

During an interaction at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk minced no words, declaring, "If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself. Is that clear, I hope it is... Hey Bob (Iger), if you're in the audience. That's how I feel, don't advertise." This bold retort was directed at Disney CEO Bob Iger, who had earlier stated that the association with X was no longer positive for his company.

Musk didn't stop there, predicting that the advertising boycott could be the death knell for the company. "No, totally. Look what this advertising boycott is going to do, it's going to kill the company, and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company," Musk emphasized.

The genesis of this controversy stems from Musk's agreement with a post earlier this month that claimed Jewish people have a "dialectical hatred" of white people. The post's content is suspected to be widely used by white supremacist conspiracy theorists. Musk's response not only drew criticism from the Joe Biden-led White House but also led to a growing list of companies, including IBM, Apple, Comcast, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros., halting their advertising on X.

Expressing regret during the New York Times interaction, Musk admitted, "I am quite sorry...I should, in retrospect, not have replied to that particular post." The tech magnate went further, labelling his reaction to the anti-Semitic post as "one of the most foolish if not the most foolish thing I've ever done on the platform."

Amid this advertising turmoil, the United Auto Workers (UAW) launched campaigns targeting Tesla and 12 other automakers in the US. When questioned about the implications for his electric vehicle (EV) business, Musk expressed negative views about unions, describing them as creating a "lords and peasants" atmosphere and instigating negativity between workers and management.

Responding to the question of leverage, Musk stated, "If we make bad products that people don't want to use, the users will vote with their resources and use something else." He also highlighted that his companies, including SpaceX, Starlink, and Tesla, are subject to oversight by hundreds of regulators across 55 countries.

On a more personal note, Musk revealed concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) harming humanity, confessing that he was "having trouble sleeping at night" due to these anxieties.