Elon Musk To Disney Advertiser Boycott: 'Go F— Yourself'

Elon Musk has a message for Disney CEO Bob Iger following the company's decision to pull advertising from X:

"Go f--- yourself."

The speaker at the New York Times Dealbook Summit pressed Musk on if he hopes to make amends with Disney.

It didn't sound like it:

“Don’t advertise. If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f--- yourself,” Musk said.

“Go f--- yourself, is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel, don’t advertise.”

Disney is one of several blue-chip sponsors -- along with Apple and Comcast -- to have recently pulled advertising from the platform following a report from the George Soros-funded Media Matters.

Earlier this month, Media Matters triggered an advertiser exodus on X after publishing an article that claims the social media service placed sponsorship ads next to hateful and pro-Nazi content.

However, X CEO Linda Yaccarino says that is not accurate. According to Yaccarino, Media Matters manipulated the search results it cited in the report.

“If you know me, you know I’m committed to truth and fairness,” posted Yaccarino.

"Here’s the truth. Not a single authentic user on X saw IBM’s, Comcast’s, or Oracle’s ads next to the content in Media Matters’ article. Only 2 users saw Apple’s ad next to the content, at least one of which was Media Matters. Data wins over manipulation or allegations. Don’t be manipulated. Stand with X.”

The CEO of Rumble, a free speech alternative to YouTube, says Media Matters did the same to its platform and has Google Analytics data to prove it:

Last Monday, Musk’s X Corp. sued Media Matters for defamation. We hope, for the sake of free speech, he bankrupts the organization.

"The only winning move is not to play"

Musk's message to Disney mirrors that of UFC president Dana White, who earlier this year told a sponsor to "go f---" itself for demanding he remove a photo with Donald Trump, his longtime friend.

To quote a line from War Games, “The only winning move is not to play.”

Musk and White don't play the game most major sponsors play. We respect and appreciate them for that.

That said, advertiser boycotts are unfortunately effective. Musk admitted during the interview that this particular exodus could jeopardize the future of X.

“What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it is going to kill the company,” Musk added. "And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.”

We hope not.

X is one of the few places -- along with Rumble -- on the internet on which users have the opportunity to express unpopular opinions without facing repercussions by way of censorship.

That's why Media Matters framed those two platforms as "hateful" instead of Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok -- all of which produce as much, if not more hateful content than X and Rumble.

Finally, it's not a coincidence Media Matters and Disney targeted X ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Twitter interfered in the distribution of factual information in 2020 to help Joe Biden win the election. Elon Musk has vowed to let both sides be heard in 2024.

Media Matters and Disney hope to influence X and prevent that.