- Elon Musk has found himself in trouble after seemingly endorsing an antisemitic post on X.
- Multiple advertising agencies and large companies have since pulled their content from the site.
- Disney is the latest mega-corporation to announce that it is stepping back, per The New York Times.
Elon Musk’s response to an antisemitic comment on X is coming with a hefty price tag as multiple large companies pull their advertisements from X.
Disney is the latest company to follow suit. Friday, it paused all spending on X, according to The New York Times. The company did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for confirmation.
The situation initially unfolded this week, when Musk responded to a post that said Jewish people were pushing “hatred against whites.”
After agreeing with the user, Musk wrote bizarre claims that American children were being miseducated about how the country participated in slavery.
He also responded “Exactly,” to a user who posted suggesting that “reverse racism” against white people is real. The replies to his posts included people saying “it’s okay to be white,” and claiming they faced discrimination for being white.
The blowback, for once, has been swift and serious for Musk.
Disney is only one company pulling its ads — other large companies backing out include IBM, Apple, and Lionsgate. Friday, in addition to Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, also paused its spending, per CNN.
In a statement to Business Insider in response to the recent upheaval, an executive at X previously pointed to a recent posting from the platform’s CEO, Linda Yacaccarino.
A recent report from the non-profit Media Matters only added to advertiser concerns. It found that ads from multiple large companies were being placed side-by-side with white supremacist and antisemitic content.
Individuals have also responded to Musk’s actions. Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz called on Musk to resign from all six of his companies.
Long-time Tesla investor Ross Gerber said Musk has essentially “already stepped aside” as Tesla CEO through his behavior, despite the fact that he has not stepped down in reality.
“I’ve never had this with any company I’ve invested in in my entire life, where the CEO does so many detrimental things that destroy the brand, because bottom line that’s what’s happening,” Gerber said on CNBC’s “Last Call.” “It’s absolutely outrageous, his behaviors and the damage he’s caused to the brand.”
In addition to the public complaints, X employees are also fielding calls from upset advertisers asking about Musk’s actions and the Media Matters report.
