In a perplexing efficiency at yesterday’s New York Occasions DealBook Summit, Twitter proprietor Elon Musk informed advertisers dropping the platform to “go fuck your self”. The truth is, he did so thrice, and took a particular swipe at Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier than occurring 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 current controversies—like Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic tweet and a Media Issues report displaying that Twitter was inserting adverts subsequent to pro-Nazi content material—that has pushed many corporations to pause promoting on the positioning solely. Musk appeared to take the query personally, saying “I hope they cease [advertising],” earlier than elaborating that “If anyone’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 the event you’re within the viewers,” presumably a jab at Bob Iger, earlier than Sorkin was in a position to regain his composure and ask a follow-up query in regards to the financial realities of so many massive 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 at the 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 present 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 suppose he has plentiful charisma and a sympathetic crowd, neither of which is actually 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 sort of make-or-break second for the platform the place it both sheds the poisonous picture Musk has constructed round it (maybe by way of a sale to a brand new proprietor) or goes below fully. I suppose we’ll discover out which it will likely be quickly sufficient.
At the least 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.