Apple has suspended its online advertising initiatives on X (formerly Twitter) in response to the anti-Semitic speech by owner Elon Musk. Other companies in the media sector, including Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and Lions Gate Entertainment, have also stopped their promotional efforts on the service.
Apple and Disney have stopped their online advertising campaigns on X (formerly Twitter), subsequent to Elon Musk agreeing with a social media post accusing "Jewish communities" of promoting "hatred against whites," as reported by sources familiar with both companies' decisions. Warner Bros Discovery and Lions Gate Entertainment have also suspended their campaigns on the social media service, which was confirmed by their spokespeople. Axios was the first to report on Apple's suspension and the New York Times on Disney's.
The Media Matters for America non-profit highlighted in a report this week that several big companies, such as IBM, Bravo, Oracle and Infinity, were displaying their online X ads next to content presenting Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. An IBM representative announced Thursday that the tech giant would end its online ad campaigns on X, claiming that the company has "zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and [they] have immediately suspended all advertising on X while [they] investigate this entirely unacceptable situation." A Comcast spokesperson, who owns Bravo and Xfinity and is parent to CNBC, also said yesterday that they are looking into the issue. Apple and Oracle have not responded to requests for comment.
A coalition of 163 Jewish leaders, activists and academics representing both main political parties also said something this week in reaction to Musk's behavior, challenging businesses like Apple, Disney and Amazon "to halt funding X through their ad spend." The X Out Hate group firstly exhorted those companies to suspend their online advertising campaigns on X in September, when Musk suggested that he would bring a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League, alleging that the ADL was "trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic." Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL CEO, who also chastened Musk's recent questionable X posts this week, said that Musk's rhetoric was just a "threat of a frivolous lawsuit."
"It has been two months since we first put out our call for large advertisers like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Disney to stop allocating money onto X as antisemitism increases on the platform," the Jewish leaders mentioned in their recent statement. "Nothing has changed. Apart from the danger Jews are in."
The White House also publicly censured Musk on Friday for his tweets. White House spokesman Andrew Bates commented that it was "unacceptable to repeat the horrendous lie at the back of the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time."
Steven Kovach and Alex Sherman contributed reporting.
Watch: IBM suspends advertising on X after Elon Musk is met with backlash for his antisemitic post.
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