Nov 30 (Reuters) - (Note the strong language in paragraphs 1 and 9-11)
Billionaire Elon Musk told advertisers who abandoned his social media platform X over anti-Semitic content to "Fuck you" in a fiery interview on Wednesday.
His profanity-laced comments followed a moment of regret in an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit. Musk repeatedly said he regretted posting a tweet on Nov. 15 that coincided with an anti-Jewish post.
Musk has faced a torrent of criticism since agreeing with a user who falsely claimed that Jews were stoking hatred against white people. Musk in his post said the user, who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, was telling "the real truth."
On Wednesday, Musk said he had "handed a loaded gun" to both detractors and anti-Semitics, and described his post as possibly the worst he had made in a history of messages that included many "silly" messages.
Musk's comments have put pressure on X generally, including CEO Linda Yaccarino. An executive told Reuters he would remain with the company.
In an X post late Wednesday, Yaccarino said Musk had offered an apology and "an explicit point of view on our position."
"And here's my perspective when it comes to advertising: X sits at a unique and amazing intersection between Free Speech and Main Street, and the work: - Thank you," he added.
the tesla (TSLA.O) The CEO bristled at the idea that he was anti-Semitic and said that advertisers who abandoned X, formerly known as Twitter, should not think they could blackmail him.
"If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Fuck you," he said.
"Go. Fuck you. Is that clear? I hope so. Hey, Bob, if you're in the audience," he added, in an apparent reference to Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney. (DIS.N), which pulled ads about X. Iger spoke earlier at the event and said Disney felt the partnership with X after Musk's move was "not a positive for us." A Disney spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"What I care about is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it. And what I see everywhere are people who care about looking good while doing evil. Screw them," Musk said.
Musk's insults against advertisers are the "final chapter" for brands that do business with X, said Lou Paskalis, founder of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory and former head of global media at Bank of America. "They're not going to forget it," he said.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 16 of 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File photo Acquire license rights
Customers who don't like him should consider the products his company makes based on their quality, Musk said, pointing to electric rocket cars Tesla and SpaceX. "I certainly won't oblige," he said.
Musk added that he had arguably done more for the environment, at Tesla, than anyone else in the world, based on Tesla's massive sales of electric vehicles.
"So it would be fair to say that, as a company leader, I have done more for the environment than any other human being on Earth."
Musk's comments came on the same day that US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas has reached a critical point, saying that threatens the safety of Jews throughout the world and the future of Israel. "For us, the Jewish people, the rise of anti-Semitism is a crisis. A five-alarm fire that must be extinguished," Schumer said in an emotional 40-minute speech on the Senate floor.
Musk's post drew condemnation from the White House for what it called an "abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred."
The "Great Replacement" theory falsely claims that Jews and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a "white genocide."
Following publication, major American companies, including Walt Disney (DIS.N)Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.O) and Comcast, parent of NBCUniversal (CMCSA.O) They suspended their ads on The platform filed a lawsuit last week against Media Matters for defamation.
Musk himself seemed determined that X could fail financially and blamed advertisers.
"If the company fails because of the advertiser boycott, it will fail because of the advertiser boycott. And that's what will bankrupt the company and that's what everyone on earth will know," he said. "Let the chips fall where they may."
Following the condemnation surrounding his publication, Musk traveled to israel and toured the site of the Hamas attack on the country on October 7. On Monday, he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a conversation broadcast live on X.
Musk said Wednesday that the trip had been planned before his message and was "independent" of the topic.
Musk in Israel said he is against anti-Semitism and anything that "promotes hatred and conflict" and stated that X would not promote hate speech. While there, he received a symbolic nameplate of the father of an Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas, which he promised to use until all the hostages were free. He wore the nameplate on stage Wednesday.
"The fact that you came here says a lot about your commitment to trying to ensure a better future," Netanyahu told Musk during the conversation in Israel.
Musk's wide-ranging interview on Wednesday included discussions ranging from free speech to the environment to US presidential politics. Musk said he thought he would not vote to re-elect President Joe Biden, but did not say he would vote for his likely rival, Donald Trump.
Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Devika Nair; Written by Peter Henderson; Editing by David Gaffen, Lisa Shumaker, and Tomasz Janowski
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