Embattled X CEO Linda Yaccarino defended Elon Musk on Wednesday evening – hours after the billionaire said “go f—k yourself” to advertisers who have fled the site due to concerns about antisemitic content.
As the video of Musk’s profanity-laced tirade at New York Times’ DealBook summit went viral on Wednesday, Yaccarino attempted damage control — describing Musk’s appearance as a “wide-ranging and candid interview” in which he had “offered an apology, an explanation and an explicit point of view about our position.”
“X is enabling an information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people,” Yaccarino said. “We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions.”
“And here’s my perspective when it comes to advertising: X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street — and the X community is powerful and is here to welcome you,” she added.
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, shocked attendees with his attack on advertisers.
Host Andrew Sorkin, who had pressed Musk to respond to the public perception that his recent trip to Israel was part of an “apology tour,” was briefly rendered speechless by the rant.
“I hope they stop. Don’t advertise,” Musk told a perplexed Sorkin. “If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f–k yourself. Go f–k yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.”
“Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience,” Musk added in a reference to Disney CEO Bob Iger, whose company was among those that yanked ad dollars.
As Musk doubled down on his bold stance, Sorkin pointed out that Yaccarino, who was in attendance, was primarily hired as X CEO to mend the company’s fractured relationships and sell ads.
Yaccarino had previously served as ad chief at media giant NBCUniversal.
In response, Musk admitted that a long-term advertising boycott was “going to kill the company.”
“The whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company and we still document it in great detail,” Musk said.
Strangely, Musk had earlier apologized for posting the very tweet that caused advertisers to exit.
“Essentially, I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me and arguably to those who are antisemitic. For that, I am quite sorry. That was not my intention.”
For months, Musk has described a mass loss of advertisers as a potential existential threat for X.
The company has tried to shift toward a subscription-based model to offset revenue losses with limited success.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that X was in danger of losing up to $75 million in ad revenue by the end of this year after the latest wave of advertiser exits over antisemitism concerns.
Disney, Apple and IBM were among the major firms to pull advertising during the most recent flap.
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