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Musk regrets controversial post but won’t bow to advertiser ‘blackmail’
Elon Musk apologized for an anti-Semitic post, called it “foolish,” and accused departing advertisers of “blackmail.” Major advertisers, including Apple and Disney, left. Musk insisted he holds no discrimination against Jews, resisted advertiser pressure, and clarified his Israel trip wasn’t related to the tweet.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Elon Musk apologized Wednesday for endorsing a social media post widely seen as anti-Semitic, but accused advertisers who are turning away from his social media platform X of “blackmail” and said anyone who does so can “go fuck yourself.”
The remark before corporate executives at the New York Times’ Dealbook conference drew a shocked silence.
Earlier, Musk had apologized for what he called “literally the worst and dumbest post that I’ve ever done.”
In a comment on X, formerly Twitter, Musk on November 15 called a post “the actual truth” that said Jewish communities advocated a “dialectical hatred against whites,” which was criticized as echoing longtime conspiracy theory among White supremacists.
The statement prompted a flood of departures from X of major advertisers, including Apple, Disney, Comcast and IBM who criticized Musk for anti-semitism.
“I’m sorry for that tweet or post,” Musk said Wednesday. “It was foolish of me.”
He told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin that his post had been misinterpreted and that he had sought to clarify the remark in subsequent posts to the thread.
But Musk also said he wouldn’t be beholden to pressure from advertisers.
“If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money?” Musk said. “Go fuck yourself.”
But the billionaire acknowledged that there were business implications to the advertiser actions.
“If the company fails… it will fail because of an advertiser boycott” Musk said. “And that will be what will bankrupt the company.”
Musk, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel earlier this week, insisted in the interview that he holds no discrimination against Jews, calling himself “philo-Semitic,” or an admirer of Judaism.
During the interview, Musk wore a necklace given to him by a parent of an Israeli hostage taken in the Hamas attack on October 7. The necklace reads, “Bring Them Home.”
Musk told Sorkin that the Israel trip had been planned earlier and was not an “apology tour” related to the controversial tweet.
— AFP
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that’s like saying Soros is jew, so all jews must be bad.
madness. a madness that has infected pappies and closet pappies in the comments here too.
Of course it is an apology tour. The advertising purse strings of those companies are likely controlled by jews or those beholden to them. Those companies also likely don’t want to be critised and targeted as being supportive of someone accused of being “anti-semitic”.
Dun need to keep using Israel and Hamas as parallel becos in SG they dun even use the word hostage. They just hold you hostage by putting out whatever show they want according to their agenda with Zero Respect for others!
O yes, Who switch my YouTube account to display their Content again. I say before I DO NOT want to have any association with the Lee Empires and their Overlord Ways. Why the Hostages have No Rights to say what he/she wants???
The Empires only know how to use other people families and extended families to hold hostage, shield and scapegoat others. Pui!
Any criticism of Israeli actions are protested as being anti- Semitic by the Jews. They forget that though they are powerful and owners of big corporations and banks, they are still a minority in the US. If they continue to threaten the American population with job loss or withdrawal of funds to universities, there will come a point when the Americans will retaliate against the Jews in America which prides itself on free speech.