Billionaire Elon Musk has said advertisers who have halted spending on his social media platform X in response to antisemitic and other hateful material are engaging in “blackmail.” Using a profanity, he essentially told them to go away. In an on-stage interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Musk also apologized for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X that helped fuel an advertiser exodus. A slew of big brands, including Disney and IBM, decided this month to stop advertising on the platform after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said their ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and white-nationalist posts.
