Tech billionaire Elon Musk had fighting words for advertisers fleeing Twitter over his antisemitic remarks, accusing companies like Disney and IBM of “blackmail” and telling them bluntly to “go f**k yourself.”
Musk’s comments came during a tense interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, where he also offered a half-hearted apology for tweeting an agreement last week with an antisemitic post claiming Jewish people harbor “dialectical hatred” against whites.
“I am quite sorry. I should in retrospect not have replied to that particular post" Musk said, in his first public expression of regret over the incident.
However, he immediately pivoted to attack advertisers who suspended campaigns on Twitter in protest of the antisemitic tweet.
“If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money. Go f**k yourself.” Musk said angrily.
He added "Look what this advertising boycott is going to do, it's going to kill the company and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company".
Over 100 major companies, including Apple, Disney, IBM and Comcast halted advertising on Twitter this month over lack of content moderation, failure to adhere to brand safety measures, and tolerance of hate speech.
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Musk was unrepentant, accusing advertisers of censorship for exerting financial pressure.
While insisting he harbored no discrimination toward Jews, Musk acknowledged his unwise decision to endorse the hateful tweet “handed a loaded gun to those who hate me, and arguably to those who are antisemitic.”
Still, he stopped short of disavowing the controversial tweet or implementing policies to curb antisemitic content on Twitter, despite pleas from Jewish groups.
Rather, Musk vowed he would not be swayed by “blackmail” or “threats.”
The fiery clash with advertisers marks Musk’s latest controversy since acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in October.
With advertisers providing over 90% of Twitter's revenue, the mass suspensions pose a dire threat to the company's financial health, according to analysts.