Pro-free speech advocates showed their support for X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk after he let advertisers know how he really felt about their anti-free speech blackmail campaign.
During a Nov. 29 interview with leftist Squawk Box co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin, Musk made clear that he would not be deterred by advertiser boycotts. Musk told Sorkin, “If someone is going to try to blackmail me with advertising— blackmail me with money? -–, go f*** yourself. Go f*** yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.” Musk’s comment came in response to pressing questions about how some companies, including Walt Disney Corporation, pulled advertising on X. After Musk’s statement, past victims of censorship and proponents of free speech spoke up to support Musk.
Praising Musk’s pushback, The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon responded, “This is how you handle woke bullies. You refuse to give them what they want because what they want is your integrity,” before promising to double advertising spending on X.
This is how you handle woke bullies. You refuse to give them what they want because what they want is your integrity.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) November 29, 2023
The Bee is doubling our pledge to advertise on X from $250k to $500k. I wish we could do more but we spend too much on DoorDash. https://t.co/3RTkOKp6lY
Echoing Dillon’s response, creator of Libs of TikTok Chaya Raichik, reposted the exchange, calling it “the most incredible clip you will watch today,” and saying that she couldn’t stop watching it, before passing on Musk’s message to boycotting advertisers herself.
I literally can’t stop watching this. It may be the top video of 2023 https://t.co/UMAR2mK4YY
— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) November 30, 2023
The Daily Wire host Michael Knowles weighed in on the Nov. 30 edition of The Michael Knowles Show, to say that Musk was right to push back against advertisers. Knowles asked his listeners, “If the richest man in the world is not allowed to speak his mind. If the richest man in the world is not even allowed to let other people speak the truth as we see it, then why even go on pretending that we live in anything resembling a free country anymore?"
Pundits such as The Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, Louder with Crowder host Steven Crowder and Benny Johnson also chimed in to praise Musk.
Some commentators focused on Musk’s salvo against woke Disney. After Sorkin brought up a conversation he had with Disney CEO Bob Iger, Musk made sure the Disney CEO felt included. Following his curse-laden message, Musk said, “Hey, Bob, if you’re in the audience.”
Musk suggested that consumers would punish corporations like Disney, before pointing out that Disney was already suffering from a boycott. “What this advertising boycott is going to do is it is going to kill the company and the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company and we will document it in great detail,” Musk told Sorkin.
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand government agencies and Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
