Walmart has become the latest major advertiser to pull back its spend on X amid concerns about a rise in anti-Semitism and hate speech on the platform.
In a statement, Walmart said: “We do not advertise on X because we have found that other platforms reach our customers better.”
The company officially made its decision public on Friday, with X – formerly Twitter – later confirming that the retail giant had not advertised on the platform since October.
The announcement came just days after Musk delivered an expletive-ridden rant during an on-stage interview, where he told advertisers to “go f*** own.”
Musk and his beleaguered company have scrambled to deal with the fallout after the Tesla boss sparked outrage last month by promoting an anti-Semitic tweet.
Walmart said in a statement that it had “found other platforms” to reach customers and had distanced itself from X
The South African-born billionaire can be seen in conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday
Musk, who has been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for his past comments, responded to a man who posted a screed on X criticizing a campaign video from the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism .
The video shows a father talking to his son about the online hate the son has expressed and calling him out for his rhetoric.
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“I'm not at all interested in saying even the slightest bit about the fact that the Western Jewish population is coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities who support the flooding of their land don't particularly like them.
“You want the truth told to your face, there it is.” Musk responded, “You said the actual truth.”
Musk has since apologized for endorsing an anti-Semitic post, but many companies concerned about the rise in hate speech continue to withdraw from the site.
In the days following Musk's ill-advised tweet on November 15, companies including Apple, IBM, Paramount and Disney announced they were no longer advertising on his platform.
According to internal documents obtained by the New York Times, the move could be a serious blow to the platform's bottom line and could cost the company $75 million in lost ad revenue by the end of the year if advertisers don't return.
The documents list more than 200 ad units from companies, including Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft, that have halted or are considering pausing their advertising on the social network.
Airbnb has cut more than $1 million worth of listings, while Uber has cut back on more than $800,000 worth of listings.
Netflix's discontinued ads were worth nearly $3 million, according to X's estimates, while Microsoft's subsidiaries stopped spending $4 million.
Amazon's books and music units, and a subsidiary of Google, have also stopped advertising, according to the newspaper.
In the final quarter of 2022 — the last year the company reported fourth-quarter earnings before Musk took over — the company posted $1.57 billion in revenue, nearly 90 percent of which came from advertising.
But when Musk appeared at The New York Times DealBook summit earlier this week and was pressed by host Andrew Ross Sorking about his tweet, the tech boss hit back.
He was asked specifically about Disney CEO Bob Iger, who earlier on Wednesday explained his company's decision to pull advertising from the on-stage platform.
“I hope they stop,” Musk said, stunning the host, who replied, “Don't you want them to advertise?”
Musk said: 'Don't advertise'. Sorkin then asked, “What do you mean?”
Musk responded: “What if someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself.
“Go fuck yourself, is that clear? Hey Bob, if you're in the audience. That's how I think about it, don't advertise.'
Elon Musk appeared at the DealBook Summit in New York City on Wednesday and launched a bitter tirade against advertisers
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, seen here, and his company have not moved away from advertising on the site
In June, Musk tapped veteran ad executive Linda Yaccarino as CEO, pictured here in September
On Wednesday, Musk admitted: “In retrospect, I shouldn't have responded to that specific message.”
He added that the advertising boycott “could kill the company,” saying: “What this advertising boycott is going to do is it will kill the company.
“And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.”
X CEO Linda Yaccarino – who was appointed by Musk in June after years of working in advertising – sat in the front row and listened with 'stoneface', The Hollywood Reporter said.
Asked about his post, Musk said he had “no problem being hated,” adding, “I essentially handed a loaded gun to the people who hate me.”
Musk complained that the media ignored his attempts to clarify his post – but insisted that his visit to Israel this week, visiting areas devastated by the October 7 attack and meeting with the country's leaders – was not an “apology tour” ' used to be.
He also previously said that reports that he was anti-Semitic were untrue and that stories to the contrary were “fake.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger, 72, previously said he would not advertise on X because of Musk's anti-Semitic tweet
Musk tried to clarify his tweet from November 15 on November 19, both saw her
Musk bought the company for $44 billion in October 2022 and laid off about 80 percent of its staff, ending many of the content moderation policies that advertisers valued.
In June, he brought in veteran ad executive Linda Yaccarino as CEO in an effort to quell fears.
Musk 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.
He has also angered people with his response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
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.