San Francisco, November 30: X owner Elon Musk stunned the world when he told advertisers to "go f*** yourself" late on Wednesday, after some top companies pulled advertising on his platform over his endorsement of anti-Semitism. Speaking at The New York Times' DealBook Summit, when Andrew Ross Sorkin asked the X owner about pauses in advertising, Musk replied, "Don't advertise."

"You don't want them to advertise?" Sorkin asked him. "If somebody's going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Go f*** yourself," Musk said. He then waved to the audience, saying, "Hey Bob," referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger who was also present at the event. Elon Musk Antisemitic Post: X Owner Says 'Nothing Could Be Further From the Truth' After Hundreds of Media Stories Claim Him To Be 'Antisemitic'.

X Owner Elon Musk Doesn't Care About Advertisers

"What this advertising boycott is going to do is kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company, and we will document it in great detail," he told the audience.

Musk made the remarks as the X CEO Linda Yaccarino sat in the audience. Musk, in his first interview with mainstream media since his anti-Semitic post, however apologised for what he called his "dumbest" ever social media post on Semitism. "I mean, look, I'm sorry for that post. It was foolish of me. Of the 30,000 it might be literally the worst and dumbest post I've ever done," he said. Elon Musk Says Those Who Can't Handle 'Reality' Will Leave X Due to Community Notes.

Companies that have paused or pulled advertising on X in the last few weeks include Apple, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, IBM, Paramount Global, Lionsgate and the European Commission, as Musk promoted anti-Semitic content on X.

More than 100 brands have since halted their ads, and the company is at risk of losing $75 million by the end of the year, according to reports.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2023 08:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).