Elon Musk is facing a massive boycott by major companies after endorsing an allegedly anti-Semitic message.
Musk, 52, who has been strongly criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for his past comments, responded to a man who posted on Anti-Semitism.
People have accused the CEO of
What did Elon Musk say?
Musk, 52, who has been strongly criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for his past comments
He sparked a firestorm on Wednesday by responding to a man who claimed: ‘Jewish communities have encouraged dialectical hatred of whites’
Elon Musk responded to a post that appeared to assert the far-right “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory.
The message on
The billionaire, who has 163 million followers on
But Musk later walked back his comment and vowed to hit back against what he said was a “fraudulent attack” on his company by media watchdog Media Matters for America.
Since his controversial comments on Wednesday, several major companies have announced a boycott of the social media site.
Musk, who has 163 million followers, responded to the post with: “You told the actual truth”
Which advertisers have withdrawn?
Apple has halted all advertising on X after owner Elon Musk agreed to the post.
On Friday, Axios reported that Apple would pause its advertising on the platform after 164 rabbis and activists called on Apple, Google, Amazon and Disney to stop advertising.
IBM, the European Commission and Lions Gate Entertainment also suspended advertising on the platform in response to Musk’s post.
The companies that have so far halted ad spending on the platform also include Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Sky and NBC Universal owner Comcast.
Media Matters released a report claiming it found ads from major brands, including Xfinity and Bravo from IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast, alongside content “praising Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.”
IBM, one of X’s largest advertisers, told the Guardian: “IBM does not tolerate hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on
Media Matters claims that in addition to pro-Nazi content, X offered ads for IBM, Apple, Oracle, NBC Universal and Comcast’s Xfinity.
But a number of British brands stopped advertising on X even before the latest controversy.
John Lewis said it stopped advertising last year for “commercial reasons”. Vodafone has not told The Times whether it will withdraw its advertising.
It told the newspaper: ‘X is a low priority advertising channel for Vodafone UK and VOXI.’
The company also said it had strict advertising safety controls on any media placements.
What did the White House say?
The White House released a statement on what it called Musk’s “abhorrent” promotion of anti-Semitism.
“We condemn in the strongest terms this abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred, which goes against our core values as Americans,” spokesman Andrew Bates said.
“We all have a responsibility to bring people together against hate, and an obligation to speak out against anyone who attacks the dignity of their fellow Americans and endangers the safety of our communities.”
What is Elon Musk’s answer?
Elon Musk, 52, has vowed to hit back against what he claims is a “fraudulent attack” on his company by media watchdog nonprofit Media Matters for America
In the letter bombshell, Musk called on his followers to “stand behind and to mislead advertisers.”
Media Matters reported that
But Musk claims the nonprofit company has been working with “legacy media outlets” to “undermine free speech on our platform because they see it as a threat to their ideological narrative and that of their financial supporters.”
In a series of posts following his promise to sue, Musk has called Media Matters “pure evil” and claimed that the “discovery and explanations will be glorious to see.”
Apple has halted all advertising on X after owner Elon Musk agreed to a post on
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said X’s position has always been very clear: discrimination by everyone must STOP across the board.
“I think this is something we can and should all agree on,” she posted Thursday.
Musk labeled Media Matters “an evil organization.”
Why was Elon Musk criticized before?
The billionaire has a long history of playing with dog-whistle rhetoric about Jewish people, especially George Soros, who angered him in May by selling his Tesla shares.
In the days following the October 7 Hamas terror attack, Musk was forced to delete a tweet that recommended an anti-Semitic account and a promoter of debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack on Israel.
The owner of
Followers were quick to point out that @WarMonitors has repeatedly used “Jew” as a swear word on the platform and told New York supermarket boss Avi Kaner to “mind your own business, Jew.”
X is not alone in engaging in problematic content since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel.
On Thursday, TikTok removed the hashtag #lettertoamerica after users of the app posted sympathetic videos about Osama bin Laden’s 2002 letter, which justified the terrorist attacks on Americans on September 11 and criticized US support for Israel.
The Guardian, which published the transcript of the letter that was shared, removed it and replaced it with a statement directing readers to a 2002 news article that it said provided more context.