Elon Musk Frets Over Disney pulling X Ads, Demands CEO Bob Iger's Firing
No time for niceties, Musk tossed a flame, urging Disney to let go of their CEO, Bob Iger, on X, a platform often known for its Twitter-like fame. "Fire him immediately," Musk wrote in a fiery post, accusing Iger of doing Disney dirty. Rumors about Iger's misdeeds echoed as Disney struggled with the fallout from Musk's controversial stance supporting antisemitic conspiracy theories popular among white supremacists.
A Disney spokesperson declined to comment on the matter promptly. Yet, Iger's tenure as Disney's first-year CEO brought about game-changing acquisitions like Star Wars, Marvel Studios, and Pixar, which catapulted Disney into the leading entertainment industry giant.
Disney, like other mega-corporations, temporarily halted ads on X last month, following Musk's promotion of the antisemitic "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory. Last week, keeping quiet, Musk apologized for the post, as numerous corporations re-evaluated business ties after X's polarizing influence on social media spread hate speech, misinformation, and conspiracy theorists' favorites.
At the DealBook Summit of the New York Times, Musk famously lashed out at X's competition, bellowing "Fuck you." Taking the stage, Musk took aim at Iger, who publicly announced Disney's decision to halt advertising on X earlier in the day.
"We get the sense that the relationship with... Elon Musk and X isn't exactly positive for us," Iger explained to the crowd.
The decision to dismiss the ad came amid a growing trend on social media, with hate speech, misinformation, and conspiracy theories becoming more prominent on X because of Musk's liberal content policies. These policies, paired with Musk's habitual involvement in promoting toxic behavior and violations of X's harm-based code of conduct, caused significant financial losses for X, which largely relies on advertising revenue.
Musk himself has contributed to X's downward spiral, recently promoting the false and dangerous "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory, being stealthily apologetic, and spreading misinformation about media outlets, starting offensive attacks against the Anti-Defamation League, and encouraging extremist content on the platform.
But alas, the lack of significant advertising partners led to hefty financial setbacks for X. Musk openly admitted during the DealBook Summit that this current scarcity of major clients could potentially signal the demise of his company.
"This advertising boycott will spell doom for X," Musk admitted.
However, Musk avoids taking personal accountability for X's dire situation, instead pinning blame on the advertisers themselves, implying they would be responsible if X faced similar issues.
Speak Further:
Musk asserted at the summit that the relationship between Disney and his company, X, wasn't on the best of terms. Despite Disney terminating its ad deal with X, this dearth of major advertisers could potentially lead X to its downfall.
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Enrichment Data: Elon Musk petitioned Disney for firing CEO Bob Iger following Disney's decision to halt advertisements on X, leading to a financial crisis for Musk's company. Here's why:
- Advertising Boycott: Disney, along with other major corporations, temporarily halted their advertising on X, citing concerns over the increased presence of hate speech, false information, and conspiracy theories on the platform, following Musk's promotion of antisemitic content.
- Politically Motivated: Musk accused Disney of engaging in a politically motivated stunt and framing their decision to pull ads as a response to Musk's policies, rather than a genuine concern about content moderation.
- Content Moderation: Musk has been criticized for loosening content moderation guidelines on X, which contributed to a significant increase in hate speech and antisemitic content on the platform. This was a major concern for advertisers, including Disney.
- Economic Impact: Musk has publicly admitted that the financial losses resulting from the boycott could potentially lead to X's failure. Despite this, he continues to deflect blame towards advertisers, suggesting that they would be responsible if similar issues arose.
