In a perplexing efficiency at yesterday’s New York Instances DealBook Summit, Twitter proprietor Elon Musk informed advertisers dropping the platform to “go fuck your self”. Actually, he did so 3 times, and took a particular swipe at Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier than happening to say that the departure of main advertisers like Apple, Disney, and Warner Bros. is “going to kill the corporate.”
NYT journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin had requested Musk if the billionaire was on an “apology tour” for latest controversies—like Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic tweet and a Media Issues report displaying that Twitter was putting adverts subsequent to pro-Nazi content material—that has pushed many firms to pause promoting on the location completely. Musk appeared to take the query personally, saying “I hope they cease [advertising],” earlier than elaborating that “If any person’s going to attempt to blackmail me with promoting, blackmail me with cash, go fuck your self.”
That left Sorkin—and the group—in a little bit of a surprised silence, which Musk crammed by repeating “Go. Fuck. Your self,” with hand gestures to underline his level. The CEO then gave a wave and a “Hey Bob! In case you’re within the viewers,” presumably a jab at Bob Iger, earlier than Sorkin was capable of regain his composure and ask a follow-up query concerning the financial realities of so many huge advertisers fleeing Twitter. For reference, in 2021, 90% of Twitter’s income got here from promoting, and it continues to be the supply of most of its income right this moment.
Musk responded to this follow-up by repeating “G. F. Y,” earlier than an exasperated Sorkin put the query to him once more. It was solely at this level that Musk deigned to provide one thing resembling a full reply, lambasting advertisers’ exit from Twitter as “an promoting boycott” that “goes to kill the corporate.” Musk continues to be satisfied, although, that the silent majority is on his aspect. When informed that advertisers would say it was Musk himself who was killing the corporate, he responded “Oh yeah? Inform it to Earth… Let’s examine how Earth responds to that.”
It’s a baffling alternate, not helped by the truth that Musk seems to assume he has considerable charisma and a sympathetic crowd, neither of which is de facto borne out by the truth of the dialog. Regardless of Musk’s tried swagger, it appears inevitable that the advertiser exodus, widespread condemnation of his personal actions (the White Home criticised Musk’s endorsement of that aforementioned antisemitic tweet as “abhorrent”), and declining revenues at Twitter should spark some form of make-or-break second for the platform the place it both sheds the poisonous picture Musk has constructed round it (maybe by a sale to a brand new proprietor) or goes beneath utterly. I suppose we’ll discover out which will probably be quickly sufficient.
A minimum of one main video games firm has paused its Twitter promoting since this newest spherical of controversy. Ubisoft confirmed it was suspending adverts on the service final week, and Blizzard, Microsoft, and Sony have all ended integration of the Twitter app of their video games and providers.
