Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, December 1, 2023
During an exchange with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Thursday, Elon Musk called out “woke” companies who are colluding with Media Matters to undermine the X social media platform by slashing ad revenue.
“If somebody’s going to try and blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money — go f— yourself,” Musk said, specifically calling out Disney CEO Bob Iger, who earlier in the DealBook Summit had said associating with Musk and X was “not necessarily a positive” for Disney.
“What this advertising boycott is going to do is it’s going to kill the company,” said Musk, with the warning: “The whole world will know that advertisers killed the company, and we will document it in great detail.”
Influential conservative accounts on X, including End Wokeness, Libs of TikTok, Zero Hedge, and Elon Musk (Parody), urged subscribers to drop Disney+ and Disney-owned Hulu in response to the advertising pullout by the Walt Disney Company and other marquee firms.
Those companies also include Apple, IBM, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to media reports.
Consumers followed Musk’s “f— you” with a middle finger to the House of Mouse as thousands joined the boycott by canceling their Disney+ accounts, online reports say.
Trending Politics co-founder Collin Rugg said of the boycott that’s unfolding: “X users are cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions after Elon Musk told Disney CEO Bob Iger to ‘go f**k yourself’ for blackmailing X. Good. Stop giving money to people who hate you and hate free speech.”
“Cancel Hulu and Cancel Disney Plus are now both breakout trends on Google Trends as viewers apparently respond to their efforts to censor and cancel Elon Musk and X. Fate loves irony,” said conservative pundit Ian Miles Cheong on X.
The recent advertising boycott on X was triggered by two events: a Nov. 16 report by left-wing Media Matters for America accusing X of placing ads next to neo-Nazi content, and Musk’s Nov. 15 comment agreeing with a post accusing Jewish communities of pushing “hatred against whites.”
Musk apologized Wednesday for the post, calling it “foolish” and saying that “it might be literally the worst and dumbest post I’ve done.”
“And I’ve tried my best to clarify six ways from Sunday, but you know at least I think it’ll be obvious that in fact far from being antisemitic, I’m in fact philosemitic,” he said, wearing a dog tag in support of Israeli hostages taken prisoner by the terrorist group Hamas.
Musk visited Israel earlier this week and met with top leaders. Last week, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Media Matters, accusing the leftist pressure group of gaming its search results.
Revolver News noted: “This is the last thing Disney needs at this moment, following a series of box office bombs, declining park attendance, and the downfall of their cable network. They need this boycott like a hole in the head, but once again, being ‘woke’ trumps everything, even success. This movement feels like a cult.”
JUST IN: Thousands of users are canceling Disney+ subscriptions after Elon Musk told CEO Bob Iger to “go f*ck yourself” for blackmailing him over advertising on X. pic.twitter.com/NEFtHZJoGn
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 30, 2023
JUST IN – Users on X report mass cancellation of Disney subscriptions after Elon Musk’s interview pic.twitter.com/5T2s1up1CK
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 30, 2023
Publishers and Citizen Journalists: Start your Engines
Mass boycott of Disney after Musk called out ‘woke’ companies who canceled advertising on X added by Editor Two on
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