Help keep Salon independent

Elon Musk goes thermonuclear as X bleeds advertisers post antisemitic conspiracy theory controversy

Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast and Lionsgate are reportedly pulling ads from Musk's platform

Senior Culture Editor

Published

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

A number of blue chip companies are pulling ads from Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) due to what CNN Business is referring to as his "increasingly vocal endorsement of extremist beliefs."

Earlier this week, Media Matters for America reported that Musk declared on X that a paid X Premium user's peddling of an antisemitic conspiracy theory attacking Jewish people was the "actual truth," which kicked-off the platform's advertising bleed.

Witnessing reports of Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and Apple cutting ties with X, Musk is going into damage control mode, issuing a statement saying, “The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company."

X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote in a post to the platform on Friday that “X has been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s absolutely no place for it anywhere in the world.” 

“At risk of stating the obvious, anyone advocating the genocide of *any* group will be suspended from this platform,” Musk wrote on X Friday evening.

In response to Musk's threat to sue, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone issued the following statement on Saturday: “Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate. Musk admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win." 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

MORE FROM Kelly McClure

Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Related Articles