Billionaire Elon Musk told advertisers that have fled his social media platform X over antisemitic content to “Go fuck yourself” in a fiery Wednesday interview. The Tesla and SpaceX founder appeared at a New York Times DealBook Summit interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin. He was asked to address his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory that prompted significant advertisers to halt spending on the formerly known Twitter-like service.
During the interview, which started with nervous laughter and a cascade of jokes about his businesses, Musk was forced to confront whether his company would survive the advertiser exodus. He seemed alternatingly apologetic and defiant, letting fly profanity-laced remarks about the boycott.
In his most aggressive rebuttal, Musk said he would not let anyone blackmail X Corp, the company that runs the platform he bought last year. He warned that X will sue the media watchdog group that first sparked the advertiser pullback by reporting that it found ads next to posts supporting Nazism. The CEO also said he wouldn’t change the platform’s content but would try to improve it by filtering out controversial material.
At one point, Musk yelled at the audience, saying that those who leave X should not think they can blackmail him. He repeated the line multiple times, adding “Hey Bob,” a reference to Robert Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney, which pulled its ads from the service.
Musk’s profanity-laced remarks came after a moment of remorse in which he admitted that agreeing with an antisemitic post was wrong and that the platform should do more to combat hate speech. He also cited his trip to Israel, which he criticized, saying it was not an apology tour but rather part of the effort to develop a broadband satellite network that could be used in the region.
But despite his attempts to explain his position and emphasize the importance of X’s work, many observers believe that Musk will need help persuading advertisers that it is worth returning to the platform. According to The New York Times, X has lost $75 million in advertising revenue since the advertiser exit. And suppose the company loses all of its revenue. In that case, keeping the platform running and continuing its work on other projects, such as the Hyperloop transportation system and the Starlink satellites, will be challenging. In addition, investors will likely punish X if it can’t generate a profit. The company’s stock was down more than 4% in after-hours trading Wednesday. It was trading at $37.76, down from its previous high of $49.84. That marks the most significant drop in the company’s history. The market has been worried about its ability to generate revenue and future prospects in the face of a worldwide recession. Many companies have felt the slump in ad revenues for online services. The decline has been especially pronounced for social networks and streaming video services.
