- By Vivek Raj
- Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:55 AM (IST)
- Source:REUTERS
In an interview on Wednesday, billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk addressed the controversy surrounding his social media platform, X, following an apology for a tweet endorsing an anti-Jewish post on November 15.
Musk, who initially was sorry for the remarks, went on to make blasphemous remarks, telling advertisers who abandoned X over antisemitic content to "go f*** yourself."
The Tesla CEO acknowledged the severity of his earlier statement, calling it possibly the worst in a history of messages that included many "foolish" ones. He said that he had "handed a loaded gun" to detractors.
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Responding to accusations of antisemitism, Musk strongly denied the claim and rebuffed advertisers who left X, formerly known as Twitter, warning them against attempting to blackmail him. Musk used explicit language, including repeated instances of "f*** you," and made a reference to Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, which had pulled its ads from X.
The controversy began from Musk's endorsement of a user's claim on November 15, falsely accusing Jewish people of stoking hatred against white individuals, aligning with the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. The theory says that Jewish individuals and leftists are orchestrating the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations, eventually leading to’White Genocide’.
The backlash prompted major U.S. companies, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and NBCUniversal parent Comcast, to suspend their advertisements on X.
Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, reported the advertiser exodus, citing ads next to posts supporting Nazism. X responded with a defamation lawsuit against Media Matters.
In an attempt to address the fallout, Musk traveled to Israel, touring the site of Hamas' assault on October 7. During a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X, Musk highlighted his opposition to antisemitism and hate speech, asserting X's commitment to not promoting such content.
Netanyahu commended Musk's visit to Israel and urged a balance between protecting online free speech and combatting hate speech. The two had previously met in September at Tesla's headquarters in California to discuss the implications of advanced artificial intelligence.
"The fact that you came here speaks volumes of your commitment to try to secure a better future, Netanyahu told Musk.
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Musk clarified that his trip to Israel had been planned independently of the controversy surrounding his earlier message.
