X boss Elon Musk softens ‘go f— yourself’ comment as he tries to woo advertisers back

Elon
Musk
on
Wednesday
tried
to
walk
back
remarks
lashing
out
at
advertisers
fleeing
his
X
social
media
platform.

At
the
Cannes
Lions
advertising
festival
in
Cannes,
France,
Musk
was
asked
by
WPP
CEO
Mark
Read
what
he
meant
by
telling
advertisers
threatening
to
pull
ads
from
the
platform
late
last
year
to
“go
f—
yourself.”

Musk
said
it
was
meant
as
a
general
point
on
free
speech
rather
than
a
comment
to
the
wider
advertising
industry.

“It
wasn’t
to
advertisers
as
a
whole,”
Musk
said.
“It
was
with
respect
to
freedom
of
speech,
I
think
it
is
important
to
have
a
global
free
speech
platform,
where
people
from
a
wider
range
of
opinions
can
voice
their
views.”

“In
some
cases,
there
were
advertisers
who
were
insisting
on
censorship,”
Musk
said.
“At
the
end
of
the
day
…
if
we
have
to
make
a
choice
between
censorship
and
losing
money,
[or]
censorship
and
money,
or
free
speech
and
losing
money,
we’re
going
to
choose
the
second.”

“We’re
going
to
support
free
speech
rather
than
agree
to
be
censored
for
money
which
I
think
is
the
right
moral
decision,”
he
added.

Musk
flew
into
Cannes
earlier
this
week
with
an
aim
to
reassure
ad
groups
and
global
brands
over
the
future
of
X.

He
was
joined
by
Linda
Yaccarino,
X’s
CEO
and
former
chairman
of
global
advertising
and
partnerships
for

NBC
Universal.

Last
year,
some
of
the
world’s
largest
advertisers
including


Apple,


IBM,


Disney,
and


Sony

pulled
their
advertising
on
X
in
the
wake
of
controversial
comments
made
by
Musk,
as
well
as
instances
of
their
ad
placements
being
featured
alongside
toxic
posts.

In
November,
Musk
travelled
to
Israel
to
meet
with
local
officials
after
he
was
accused
by
civil
rights
groups
of
amplifying
anti-Jewish
hatred
on
X.

The
tech
billionaire,
asked
at
the
time
whether
this
trip
was
an
“apology
tour”
to
advertisers,
said
onstage
at
2023
DealBook
Summit
in
New
York
that
advertisers
threatening
to
halt
spending
on
ads
on
the
platform
should
stop
advertising
on
his
platform.

“Don’t
advertise,”
he
said
in
the
November
interview
with
CNBC’s
Andrew
Ross
Sorkin.
“If
somebody
is
going
to
try
and
blackmail
me
with
advertising?
Blackmail
me
with
money?
Go
f—
yourself.”

Musk
on
Wednesday
backpedalled
on
his
attacks
against
advertisers.

“Of
course,
advertisers
have
a
right
to
appear
next
to
content
they
find
compatible
with
their
brands,”
he
said.
“What
is
not
cool
is
insisting
that
there
can
be
no
content
that
they
disagree
with
on
the
platforms.”

He
added:
“In
order
for
X
to
be
the
public
square
for
the
world,
it
really
better
be
a
free
speech
platform
—
that
doesn’t
mean
people
can
say
illegal
things;
it’s
free
speech
within
the
bounds
of
the
law.”

Disclosure:
NBCUniversal
is
the
parent
company
of
CNBC.