Disney, Apple join list of companies nixing ads from Musk’s X over antisemitic posts

Disney and Apple announced Friday that they would pull adds from X, joining a growing list of companies fleeing the platform after owner Elon Musk made antisemitic remarks this week.

Multiple major companies, including IBM, Lionsgate and Paramount also said they are leaving X, formerly Twitter. The European Union will also halt advertising, it announced.

The wave of departures started Thursday after Musk engaged with an antisemitic post on the platform. 

X has struggled for months to bring advertisers back to the platform after half of the company’s top advertisers left following Musk’s takeover in late 2022. Musk loosened content restrictions and allowed more hateful content on the platform when he took it over, worrying advertisers.

“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Friday in response to Musk’s tweet.

CEO Linda Yaccarino said Saturday that the company will “continue to protect the freedom of voices and opinions of users,” following the backlash.

Yaccarino, who was previously an executive at NBCUniversal, was hired in order to rebuild advertiser relationships. 

Media Matters for America also published an investigation Thursday showing advertisements from large companies on X being displayed next to antisemitic material, sparking additional concerns.

X announced it will sue Media Matters early Saturday, with Musk calling the investigation a “fraudulent attack against our company.”