NEW YORK: Tech billionaire Elon Musk Stunned a packed hall Wednesday when he accused advertisers who are turning away from his social media platform X of “blackmail” and said anyone who does so can “go f**k yourself.”
The comment in front of corporate executives at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit caused a brief silence.
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Earlier, Musk had apologised 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 criticised 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 criticised Musk for anti-semitism.
“I’m sorry for that tweet or post,” Musk said Wednesday. “It was foolish of me.”
He explained to interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin that people misunderstood his post, and he tried to make it clearer in later comments on 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 f**k yourself.”
But the rich person admitted that the advertisers’ actions could affect the business.
“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 talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Israel last week, emphasized in the interview that he has no bias against Jews. He described himself as “philo-Semitic,” meaning he admires Judaism.
During the interview, Musk wore a necklace that a parent of an Israeli hostage gave him after the Hamas attack on October 7. The necklace says, “Bring Them Home.”
Musk shared with Sorkin that his visit to Israel had been arranged beforehand and was not a “sorry journey” linked to the contentious tweet.
