X CEO defends Elon Musk's provocative message for 'blackmailing' advertisers with free speech statement

Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of social media platform X, has come to the defense of her boss profane attack about fleeing advertisers.

In an X post published late Wednesday evening, hours after Musk had made the controversial comments, he defended X owner Elon Musk's vision of a platform dedicated to free speech.

“X is enabling an informational independence that is uncomfortable for some people. We are a platform that allows people to make their own decisions,” he wrote.

“[H]Here's my perspective when it comes to advertising: X is at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street, and the X community is powerful and here to welcome you. To our partners who believe in our meaningful work: thank you,” he added.

Look at:

Today @elonmusk gave a wide-ranging and candid interview to @dealbook 2023. He also offered an apology, an explanation, and an explicit point of view about our position. X is enabling an informational independence that is uncomfortable for some people. We are a platform that allows… https://t.co/PSmSKRkJSq

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) November 30, 2023

As seen above, the tweet began with her noting that Musk had also issued an apology, though it was unrelated to his profane attack on the fleeing advertisers. He had specifically apologized for liking an allegedly anti-Semitic tweet.

He had lashed out at fleeing advertisers and apologized for liking an anti-Semitic tweet while speaking at the New York Times' DealBook Summit earlier Wednesday.

During an interview, he was asked about all the advertisers who have fled X in recent weeks for both its taste for an allegedly anti-Semitic tweet and its refusal to censor and silence dissenting voices.

“I hope they stop. Don't advertise,” he said, essentially endorsing the exit of advertisers.

“You don't want them to advertise?” The interviewer, Andrew Ross Sorkin, then asked.

“No. If someone tries to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, do it yourself. Go. F–k. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey Bob, I'm sure you're in the audience,” Musk replied.

Listen:

By Bob, he meant Bob Iger, the head of Disney, one of the first companies to cut ties with X.

“Apple and Disney have paused online advertising campaigns on X, formerly Twitter,” CNBC reported on November 17.

The problem was that the exodus was primarily driven not by facts, but by the propaganda of far-left agitprop companies like Media Matters.

“[A] report by … Media Matters … found ads from top brands including Apple, IBM, Oracle and Xfinity from Comcast, a telecommunications company, and Bravo, the television network, alongside posts promoting opinions ” pro-Nazis,'' the Financial Times reported at the time this all started.

“Media Matters published another report … showing that ads from companies such as Amazon, NBA Mexico and NBCUniversal's branding agency had appeared alongside content with white nationalist labels,” the paper added.

In accordance with Fox Business Networkan X executive pushed back at the attack, saying the platform “didn't intentionally put a brand next to this kind of [anti-Semitic] content, nor is a brand actively trying to support that content with placement.”

“Ads follow people on X, in this case the Media Matters research that was going to actively seek out that content – that's how user targeting works. In terms of the platform itself, there are control settings for to every user and every brand,” the executive added.

They added that groups like Media Matters “aggressively search for posts and then go to the accounts, and if they see an ad … they keep clicking Refresh to capture as many brands as possible.”

That said, there was another element to this controversy, as noted above: Musk's decision to personally like an allegedly anti-Semitic post that accused Jewish powers such as the Anti-Defamation League of tolerating and promoting hatred against white

“You have spoken the real truth. … The ADL unfairly attacks the majority of the West, despite the fact that the majority of the West supports the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own principles, criticize the groups minorities who are their main threat,” he wrote in response to the controversial tweet.

“It's not good and it has to stop,” he added.

You have spoken the real truth

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023

The ADL unfairly attacks the majority of the West, despite the fact that the majority of the West supports the Jewish people and Israel.

This is because they cannot, on their own principles, criticize the minority groups that are their main threat.

It's not good and it needs to stop.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023

But many conservative Jews, including prominent commentator Ben Shapiro, have supported Musk's tweets, arguing that it is not anti-Semitic to criticize the ADL for trying to censor and silence critics and dissenters.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a BizPac Review staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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