Hours after Elon Musk told corporations to “” their X classifieds due to considerations about anti-Semitism, and called out Disney CEO Bob Iger, a right-wing user organization on the social media platform called on Disney fans to cancel their accounts.
Several right-wing accounts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, asked subscribers to Disney’s Disney streaming service to cancel their subscriptions, and the X End Wokeness account posted cancellation commands with the caption: “Stop giving cash to other people you hate. ” you. “
Those calls follow Disney’s decision earlier this month to suspend its advertising on the social media platform, joining a growing list of companies including Apple, IBM, Lionsgate and Xfinity, following the release of a scathing report that found advertisements on X alongside pro-Nazi posts, and after Musk endorsed a post widely condemned as antisemitic.
Disney’s decision to block classified ads from running on X may cost the social media platform millions of dollars, while calls from X users to boycott Disney would have to reach many of its 146 million subscribers (in August) to take effect.
Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Musk accused advertisers who left the platform of “blackmailing” him with cash and crudely told them to “fuck off,” while addressing Iger through the crowd and saying, “Hi Bob. “
Iger, who also spoke at the summit, said he had “a lot of respect for Elon and what he accomplished,” but objected to Musk’s post on X, saying, “By taking the position that he took a while ago in public, we just felt that the agreement with that position and Elon Musk and X wasn’t necessarily positive for us.
X could lose as much as $75 million in lost ad revenue due to the withdrawal of more than a dozen companies, including Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Disney, IBM, Microsoft and Xfinity, the New York Times reported.
IBM has become one of the first in a string of high-profile advertisers to suspend their classified ads on the platform this month, after a report by left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America uncovered ads from the company as well as Apple. Oracle and Xfinity – gave the impression of being close to neo-Nazi messages and praises of Adolf Hitler. Musk suggested that the watchdog went to great lengths to achieve this result, saying that the discovery represented a very different experience than that of a typical user. Subsequently, X Corp. filed a defamation lawsuit against Media Matters. Musk was also criticized after sharing a post about an argument that Musk called “the genuine truth. “The White House also condemned the post, calling the claim “an abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hatred. “Musk apologized Wednesday for the post, admitting it was “one of the stupidest, if not the stupidest, things I’ve ever done” on the platform.
$7. 2 billion. That’s the amount Disney spent on advertising in fiscal 2022, surpassing its 2021 ($5. 5 billion) and 2020 ($4. 7 billion) ad budgets.
Disney has become the latest destination in a wave of major corporations that have drawn the ire of right-wing critics, much of it online. Earlier this year, Bud Light got a big backlash from the right, adding experts Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro, after the beer’s logo introduced a partnership with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney. Fast food chain Chick-fil-A also came under fire after right-wing online circles expressed outrage over 2021Array’s hiring of a leader responsible for diversity, equity and inclusion, while Adidas faced backlash from the right for a marketing crusade that included trans-inclusive swimsuits. Target has also faced backlash from the right online over a line of LGBTQ Pride products. Reacting to the complaint, Target pulled parts of that line in late May, just a week before Pride Month began, saying in a statement that threats and complaints garnered about the products were “affecting sentiment. ” protection and safety of our team members. wellness,” although the move also sparked a backlash in LGBTQ circles following claims that the company bowed to right-wing backlash.
Elon Musk Says Advertisers Who Left X Are Coming Back (Forbes)
Apple and Disney Remove X Ads After Musk Promoted Anti-Semitic Message, Join These Other Companies (Forbes)