Elon, After Personally Driving Away Advertisers, Tells Them To Go Fuck Themselves (Repeatedly), And Says ‘Earth’ Will ‘Judge’ Them For Killing ExTwitter

I'm not sure Elon quite understands the concept of damage control." Advertisers are bailing, and the rate increases every time he says something stupid or endorses this or that conspiracy theory. It's costing the company tons of money, but he still can't admit that he's the problem. So, instead, he's blaming everyone else. And sometimes suing organizations for daring to point out what a mess he's made.

So I guess it should be no surprise that when Elon appeared at the Dealbook conference, he struck his usual defiant tone, which doesn't seem likely to help Linda Yaccarino win back any advertisers.

If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f-yourself." He added, Don't advertise."

He also implied that fans of his, and of X, would boycott those advertisers in kind. He specifically took aim at Disney.

The whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company and we will document it in great detail," Musk threatened.

The full video of the moment is way more damning.

It starts off with host Andrew Ross Sorkin talking about how it looks like Elon is doing an apology tour, and mentioning that he spoke with Disney boss Bob Iger earlier in the day, and Elon, looking unwell, says:

Elon: I hope they stop.

ARS: [pauses... confused...] You... hope...?

Elon: Don't advertise.

ARS: [more confused] You don't want them to advertise?

Elon: No!

ARS: What do you mean?

Elon: If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself.

ARS: [perplexed] But...

Elon: Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear? [Smug asshole look that isn't nearly as smug as he thinks it is]. I hope it is. [Waves] Hey Bob, if you're in the audience.

ARS: Well, let me ask you then...

Elon: That's how I feel.

ARS: [Mouth open]

Elon: Don't advertise.

ARS: [trying to bring the conversation around]: How do you think then about the economics of X, if part of the underlying model is... and maybe it needs to shift, maybe it needs to shift away from advertising... if you believe that this is the one part of your business where you will be beholden... to... uh... have this view?

Elon: G. F. Y. [Nods the confident nod of someone deeply wrong about something]

ARS: I understand that, but there's a reality too, right? I mean Linda Yaccarino's right here and she's gotta sell advertising.

Elon: Yes, no, no, right. Yes. No. Absolutely so. No, no, totally. So, no, no, so. Actually what this advertising boycott is going to do, it's going to kill the company.

ARS: [realizing that Elon seems to be encouraging a boycott that will, as he just said, kill the company] And you think that the...

Elon: But, the whole world will know that the advertisers killed the company. And we will document it in great detail.

ARS: But those advertisers are going to say we didn't kill the company..."

Elon: Oh yeah? Tell that to Earth!

ARS: [momentarily stunned] But... they're going to say, Elon, that YOU killed the company, because you said these things and they were inappropriate things, and they didn't feel comfortable on the platform. That's what they're going to say.

Elon: And let's see how Earth responds to that. [Smug asshole look again]

ARS: So, let me... okay... this goes back to...

Elon: We'll both make our cases, and we'll see what the outcome is.

ARS: What are the economics of that for you. I mean, you have enormous resources, so you can keep this company going for a very long time. Would you keep it going for a long time if there was no advertising?

Elon: I mean, if the company fails, because of an advertising boycott, it will fail because of an advertising boycott, and that's what will have bankrupted the company, and that's what everyone on earth will know.

ARS: But you recognize, that some of those people are going to say that they didn't feel comfortable on the platform. And I just wonder and ask you to think about that for a second...

Elon: Tell it to the judge.

ARS: But the judge is gonna be...

Elon: The judge is the public.

So much nonsense in so little time.

First off, advertisers choosing not to advertise on your platforms is not blackmail." It's actually their free speech right of association not to associate with you and your nonsense.

Second, the advertisers your CEO is desperately pleading with to come back (and maybe spend more than $10) aren't going to find you telling them to go fuck yourself," an enticing deal.

Third, if you really are so cavalier about it, why are you suing Media Matters for its report that you claim convinced many advertisers to leave?

Fourth, are you actually admitting that ExTwitter is being killed" by advertisers leaving the platform? Because for months now, you and Yaccarino have claimed you're on the verge of profitability. But now you seem to be saying that the company has been killed" because advertisers exercising their own free speech rights want nothing to do with you.

Fifth, what kind of entitled, out-of-touch brat thinks that advertisers choosing not to give you money is some sort of statement on their culpability? No advertiser owes you money, you entitled billionaire. This is how lots of businesses fail. They don't make enough revenue. Actively driving away the source of nearly all of your revenue is a choice that you, Elon, made, not something we blame on the advertisers. When newspapers go under because they couldn't get enough ad sales, do we blame the advertisers? This all seems like evidence of someone who has never faced an ounce of hardship in his life and the first time he does insists it must be everyone else's fault rather than his own failings.

Sixth, I'm sure that threatening to send your mob of drooling, sheep-like fanboys after advertisers is going to convince them to come back. Masterful gambit.

Seventh, how fucking high on your own supply must you be to think that earth" will judge" advertisers for killing exTwitter" when the only reason they're leaving is because of stupid, fucked up shit that you, yourself are doing?

Anyway, it would be nice if Elon could stop doing stupid shit for just like one day. It would let me move on to some of the many other stories I'm trying to write about.