Things are heating up for Disney, with the company facing fresh boycott calls continuing on from its announcement that the brand was ceasing advertising with X, formerly Twitter, just days ago.
Several leading global brands, including Disney, announced mid-November that they were removing advertisements from the platform due to hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric that was being shared on the site.
Other companies that paused, suspended, or removed advertising include Paramount Global, Apple, IBM, and Lionsgate.
The Anti-Defamation League recently released a report stating that since Elon Musk took over X, antisemitism on the platform had risen and was up nearly 1,000 percent since early October.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty
Musk is also known for his outspokenness on the platform and received complaints over allowing hate speech to flourish on it.
Chief executive of Disney, Bob Iger, has stood strong by his decision. However, the company has come under fire for still advertising on TikTok after a document written by Saudi Arabian-born terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2002 had gone viral on the video platform.
Now, Musk has added fuel to the fire by speaking out against companies pulling their advertising from the platform, citing it as “blackmail” and that it could “kill” the social media channel.
MUSK: “The judge is the public.”
SORKIN: “And you think that the public is going to say that Disney is making a mistake?”
MUSK: “Yes.”
SORKIN: “And they’re going to boycott Disney?”
MUSK: “They already are.”@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/3LDxuk8wDC
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 30, 2023
In a candid interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times DealBook Summit on November 29, Musk opened up about the advertiser boycott.
“Don’t advertise. If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f*** yourself,” he said
Repeating it louder and looking out to the audience, he said: “Go f*** yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.”
He ended that sentiment with: “Hey Bob [Iger], if you are in the audience. That’s how I feel, don’t advertise.”
Sorkin asked if this meant the company would “shift away from advertising,” Musk added: “What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it is going to kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company. And we will document it in great detail.”
As the interview progressed, Musk was adamant that the public would understand that it was the advertisers’ fault, to which Sorkin asked: “And you think that the public is going to say that Disney is making a mistake?”
“Yes,” Musk replied. Sorkin clarified: “And they’re going to boycott Disney?”
Musk added: “They already are.”
Video clips from his interview have appeared online and have encouraged many users of X to call for a boycott of Disney.
Following Musk’s comments, one supporter said: “Boycott Disney and any other advertiser that is woke and against free speech! I am!”
One former Disney fan posted a screenshot of them canceling their subscription with the caption: “Go f*** yourself @RobertIger @Disney #BoycottDisney @elonmusk.”
Another commented: “Let me clarify this as well. I will boycott @Disney before I ever boycott @X.”
“If @RobertIger is going to boycott @x to silence @elonmusk, I will cancel my @Disney cable subscription. I will not support such a company,” a fan of X added.
Multiple social media users simply joined in with the chant: “Boycott Disney.”
Newsweek has contacted Disney and X via email for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.