X advertisers that have reportedly pulled ads recently: See the list, including Disney and Apple.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has lost another major advertiser—this time, it’s Disney. The entertainment giant is another in a string of major companies to have pulled ads from X after owner Elon Musk endorsed antisemitic conspiracy theories on his platform.
As of Saturday, Nov. 18, here is a running list of every major brand and company that has pulled ads from X:
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Comcast/NBCUniversal
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Disney
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Lionsgate Entertainment
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Paramount Global
Disney is joined by Comcast and Paramount Global, where a spokesperson for the companies confirmed to The Washington Post on Friday that they had suspended ads on the platform. Apple and IBM also suspended ads on X this week, just a day after Musk agreed to claims that “Jewish people are replacing whites with immigrants from minority groups.”
Musk then doubled down by attacking the Anti-Defamation League, accusing the organization of “refusing to criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat.”
These tweets have received major backlash across the internet, including a statement on Friday from the White House condemning Musk for using his platform to stoke the flames of anti-semitism and that it was “unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time.”
The Tesla and SpaceX owner acknowledged the backlash on Friday and stated to commentators that he would stick to his principles and vaguely threatened that “fake advocacy groups who seek to suppress free speech should remember that karma is real.”
Linda Yaccarino, Musk’s handpicked CEO for X, tried to run damage control for Musk’s posts, citing that X has been “extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination.” However, despite this statement and previous claims that the platform was doing everything to protect brands from having its ads displayed next to racist and antisemitic tweets, a report from Media Matters For America, just hours after Musk’s post, found that this was not true.
The report detailed that major brands like Apple, Bravo (NBCUniversal), IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity (Comcast) all had their ads placed next to posts that endorsed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Most of these brands have since paused or suspended ad spending on X, although it’s unclear if Media Matters’ findings had anything to do with those decisions.
It seems that the findings got Musk’s attention, who, early Saturday morning, publicly threatened legal action against Media Matters, calling the organization “evil” and that the lawsuit would attack “their board, their donors,” and “their network of dark money.”
In response to Musk’s threat, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said in a statement that “Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate.” Carusone’s statement also said that Musk “admitted the ads at issue ran alongside the pro-Nazi content we identified. If he does sue us, we will win.”
This is not the first time that major brands have pulled ad money from X. This time last year, major companies were being asked to reconsider spending on X due to “safety concerns” regarding the rushed rollout of Twitter Blue. Also, unsurprisingly, similar Media Matters findings from months ago found other big brands like Amazon and Samsung were having their ads displayed next to pro-Nazi content on X.
UPDATE: Nov. 18, 2023, 2:11 p.m. CST This article was updated with a statement from Media Matters President Angelo Carusone.