Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic post on social media platform X may have costly consequences, potentially causing the platform to lose up to $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of 2023. The internal documents from X’s sales team, viewed by The New York Times, reveal that advertisers are pulling out amid growing concerns over antisemitic content on the site.
The crisis has put X CEO Linda Yaccarino under tremendous pressure, with fellow executives allegedly urging her to resign in order to salvage her reputation. Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic post has been widely condemned, with a White House spokesperson describing it as an “abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate.”
Major companies like IBM, Apple, Disney, and NBC have already halted spending on X following reports of their ads running alongside pro-Nazi content. X’s internal documents, reviewed by The Times, indicate that over 200 advertisers have paused or are at risk of pausing their spending on the platform, including big names such as Amazon, Netflix, and Coca-Cola.
At least 100 advertisers have already chosen to halt advertising on X, with some doing so after Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory. The loss of these advertisers, some of whom were spending significant amounts on X, could add up to millions in lost revenue for the platform.
In response to the situation, X stated that only $11 million in revenue was at risk, and that the figure was likely to change as advertisers returned to the platform. Yaccarino, in a note to X employees, emphasized the company’s commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting free speech.
Efforts to reach X for comment from Business Insider outside of normal working hours were unsuccessful. The platform has not yet responded to the request for comment.
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