Elon Musk Tells Companies Who Want to 'Blackmail' Him With Advertising to ‘Go F--- Yourself'

“What this advertising boycott is going to do, it’s going to kill a company, and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company," Musk said

Elon Musk is sharing his thoughts on advertisers pulling their ads from X.

The Tesla CEO, 52, sent a strong message at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday after several companies, including Disney, recently pulled their advertisements from X, formerly known as Twitter, due to antisemitic posts he amplified on the platform.

Musk’s response to the companies: “Don’t advertise.”

“If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f--- yourself. Go. F---. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is,” he continued.

Related: White House Slams Elon Musk for 'Hideous' Antisemitic Remarks

The tech CEO then appeared to call out Disney CEO Bob Iger in particular, saying, “Hey Bob, if you’re here in the audience.” He then added, “That’s how I feel.”

When pressed by interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin during the panel about the ripple effects of advertisers pulling away, Musk noted, “What this advertising boycott is going to do, it’s going to kill a company, and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.”

His words appeared to be a response to Iger, who addressed Disney pulling away from the platform at the summit earlier in the day. The Disney CEO said that despite the fact that he had “a lot of respect for Elon and what he’s accomplished,” he could not stand by his actions, as reported by Deadline.

“By him taking the position that he took in quite a public manner, we just felt that the association with that position and Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us. And we decided we would pull our advertising,” the Disney CEO said during a Q&A.

Related: Elon Musk Considers Charging X Users 'Small Monthly Payment' to Use Platform

Following Musk’s interview, X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino appeared to take a softer approach when addressing advertisers, emphasizing their stance on “free speech” and offering a welcoming message.

“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,” she wrote on the platform.

“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 continued. “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.”

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Earlier this month, Musk endorsed a post on X falsely claiming that Jewish people were stoking hatred against White people, which several companies — and even the White House — have criticized for being antisemitic.

"It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust," said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in response to the post. "We condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans."

Musk apologized for his actions at the summit, calling it a “foolish” decision and one of the “worst and dumbest post I’ve ever done.” But the aftermath of the post has left the company reeling with companies like Apple, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Global and others pulling their advertisements earlier this month.

IBM also suspended its ads on X after the company's corporate ads appeared next to pro-Nazi content, according to the BBC.

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