Elon Musk's Apology for Anti-Semitic Tweets Was Backed With a 'Go F**k Yourself’ for Advertisers

Elon Musk apologized for what he dubbed his "dumbest" ever social media post in an interview with mainstream media, his first since his antisemitic remarks on X. Musk was attending the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York when he issued the apology.

However, he took offense with sponsors quitting his platform due to an increase in antisemitism on X. “I don’t want them to advertise,” he said, per CNN. “If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go f**k yourself. Go. F**k. Yourself,” he said. “Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel” he added, referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spoke earlier at the summit.

This month, several notable businesses stopped running advertisements on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Musk's open endorsement of a conspiracy theory that is supported by White nationalists and is considered antisemitic. Media firms like Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. Discovery—the parent company of CNN—were among those who left the social media giant.

However, he added that while the widely condemned tweet was "the worst" he had ever done, it was by no means sufficient to label him as antisemitic. “I mean, look, I’m sorry for that … post,” he said. “It was foolish of me. Of the 30,000 it might be the worst and dumbest post I’ve ever done. And I’ve tried my best to clarify six ways from Sunday, but you know at least I think it’ll be obvious that far from being antisemitic, I’m philosemitic.”

During a strange discussion that lasted for more than an hour, Musk added that he doesn't mind being disliked. “Hate away,” he said. “There’s a real weakness to wanting to be liked.”

This week, Musk traveled to Israel, where he met with President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as visited a kibbutz that was attacked on October 7 by Hamas. In the interview, however, Musk clarified that his visit to Israel "wasn't an apology tour" and that it "wasn't in response to all of that."

Musk claimed that he's a good man, but he won't "tap dance" to prove it to others. Speaking to Netanyahu about the recent attacks, Musk stated on Monday that “those who are intent to murder must be neutralized; then the propaganda must stop that is training people to be murderers in the future; and then making Gaza prosperous. If that happens, I think it’ll be a good future…. I’d love to help.”

However, in a different discussion at the DealBook Summit, Herzog didn't seem to be sure Musk would stick to his messaging. “We had an open and frank conversation which I found interesting and I think it was mutually beneficial to both of us,” said Herzog. “I sincerely hope that we will see some of [his activism against antisemitism] shortly.”