Speaking at the New York Times Dealbook Summit in New York City today Elon Musk had... some colorful words for advertisers that have left Twitter in an attempt to sway the companies choices regarding what to censor and how censorship is implemented on the platform. Take it away, Elon:
BREAKING: Elon Musk tells advertisers to “go f**k” themselves if they are going to try and blackmail him on his own platform.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 29, 2023
And this is exactly why Elon was the perfect person to buy Twitter 🔥
“If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with… pic.twitter.com/33dPDu8wZC
“If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself. But go f**k yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.”
He's never been ones to mince words, has Musk.
At the same time Musk took the opportunity of the interview to apologize for a tweet that many had considered to be antisemitic, a tweet that in many ways was the genesis of much of the advertiser flight that Musk was addressing.
Elon Musk: I’m sorry for that post. It was foolish of me. Of my 30,000 posts it might literally be the worst and dumbest post I’ve ever done; I think over time it’ll be obvious that I’m far from anti-semitic. pic.twitter.com/RTb2zEyovK
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 29, 2023
Overall many have been supportive of Musk's stance:
That's a phenomenal response! Based!
— J C (@jcorrigan22) November 29, 2023
Based asf.
— ZNO 🇺🇸 (@therealZNO) November 29, 2023
This is why I will gladly pay for this app.
I didn't realize this was on live TV lmao that makes it better
— Joe (@Necro_304Mav) November 29, 2023
While many of the usual suspects on the left are firmly in tsk tsk mode.
Elon Musk fans, why is it such a bad thing that X advertisers don’t want be associated with Nazis, antisemites, and conspiracy theories? Don’t they have the free market right to put their money in a company where they want it?
— David Weissman ✡️ (@davidmweissman) November 30, 2023
this is really funny, Elon has a temper tantrum and a bunch of you guys just fawn over him because you can't think about what he's actually doing. Hey, good on him for "standing up" to advertisers, in a very loose sense, but he's a businessman. people aren't "blackmailing" him…
— CARRIERHASARRIVED (@NOTANIDLETHREAT) November 29, 2023
In a longer cut of the video, Musk makes the case that if advertisers continue to boycott the platform 'it's gonna kill the company... and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company'.
BREAKING: Elon Musk to advertisers trying to blackmail 𝕏 into censorship: “Go f*ck yourself.” pic.twitter.com/cfH3ThOXNh
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) November 29, 2023
It would appear that Musk is playing a game of chicken with advertisers, daring them not to come back and leaving them holding the bag if public perception begins to blame them for the platforms demise, should it happen. It's a bold strategy but then again Elon Musk didn't get where he was by being meek, particularly when it comes to negotiations. What we're watching is a corporate advertising negotiation playing out in real time through out phones and computer screens, and it's fascinating.
It's hard to say how this will shake out, but it's clear that Elon Musk has staked out his position well and, from all appearances, the position seems to be an intractable one. the question is who, if anyone, will be the first to cry uncle.
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