‘Effin’ Musk rips ad buyers
Billionaire Elon Musk told advertisers who have fled his social media platform X over antisemitic content to “go f--k yourself” in a fiery Wednesday interview.
His profanity-laced remarks followed a moment of contrition in a New York Times Deal Book Summit interview, as he first said “I’m sorry” for a tweet that agreed with an anti-Jewish post on X on Nov. 15.
Musk has faced a torrent of criticism since on Nov. 15 he agreed with a user who falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory was speaking “the actual truth.”
On Wednesday Musk said he had “handed a loaded gun” to detractors, describing his post as possibly the worst he had made during a history of messages that included many “foolish” ones.
The Tesla CEO bristled at the idea that he was antisemitic and said advertisers who left X, formerly known as Twitter, should not advertise on X — and should not think they could blackmail him.
“Go f--k yourself,” he said. Asking if that was clear, he added “Hey Bob,” an apparent reference to Robert Iger, chief executive of Disney, which pulled its X ads. Iger spoke earlier at the event.
Musk’s comments came on the same day Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the rise in antisemitism has reached a crisis point.