Apple has pulled all advertising from X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk faced backlash for “endorsing an antisemitic post.”
According to Axios, sources have confirmed Apple “is pausing all advertising” on the site following “Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as Apple ads reportedly being placed alongside far-right content.”
The move comes after Musk faced backlash last week for responding to an antisemitic post on the platform. Following the reply, Tesla stock dropped, losing tens of billions of dollars in market value.
According to Axios, “Musk posted to X on Wednesday ‘[y]ou have said the actual truth’ in response to a post on the platform that claimed Jewish communities support ‘dialectical hatred against whites.’”
The White House responded to Musk’s comment with an official statement from spokesperson Andrew Bates who stated, “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of Antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Apple removes advertising from X
The aftermath of Musk’s tweet led to 164 Jewish rabbis and activists calling on Apple, Google, Amazon, and Disney to stop advertising on X — there were also calls for Apple and Google to remove X completely from their respective app stores.
Responding to the criticism, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a post, “X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board — I think that’s something we can and should all agree on. When it comes to this platform — X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”
There has yet to be any official confirmation from Apple that it has pulled advertising from the social media platform, but the company looks set to follow in the footsteps of IBM in opting to remove its imagery from X. Regarding its own exit, IBM told the Financial Times, “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.”