Even by his standards, billionaire Elon Musk had what could only be described as an on-stage meltdown on Wednesday during an interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
In an unhinged moment that nobody can say is out of character at this point, Musk told advertisers in the room who have abandoned X (formerly Twitter) due to his antics—which have included calling a vile antisemitic conspiracy theory “the actual truth”—to “go fuck” themselves.
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Then, directly afterward, he appeared to call out Disney CEO Bob Iger by name. “Hey, Bob!” Musk said.
On November 15, Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X and followed up with elaborations that underscored his beliefs. In the post, he said that the Anti-Defamation League “unjustly criticizes the majority of the West” despite “minority groups” being Jewish people’s “primary threat.” He clarified that he believes this behavior “is also not just limited to the ADL” and that the ADL and other groups “push de facto anti-white racism.”
Musk attempted to strike a somewhat apologetic tone during the interview, saying the post “might be literally the worst and dumbest post I’ve ever done,” but added that he thinks his follow-up posts should have clarified he is not really antisemitic. Sorkin asked Musk about the perception that his subsequent visit to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was an “apology” tour. When he then brought up criticism of his actions by advertisers, Musk said, “I hope they stop. Don’t advertise.”
“If somebody’s going to try and blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself,” he said, to silence from the audience. “Go. Fuck. Yourself,” he said with more emphasis, spurring laughter. “Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey, Bob, if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel. Don’t advertise.”
Sorkin then followed up by asking Musk what someone in his position should do, when advertising is currently a key part of X’s business, but it’s also beholden to outside interests. “G. F. Y,” Musk said.
“There’s a reality here too, right? [X CEO] Linda Yaccarino is here and she has to sell ads, right?” Sorkin asked. Musk began to stumble and stutter, spurring more confused laughter from the audience, before saying, “What this advertising boycott is going to do is kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.”
Sorkin responded that advertisers would likely argue that Musk himself killed his company with his unhinged behavior. Musk took a turn into apparent New Ageism: “Let’s see how Earth responds to that,” he said.
