Elon Musk calls for Disney CEO Bob Iger to be fired after company pulls ads from X
X boss Elon Musk called on Disney to “immediately” fire CEO Bob Iger on Thursday for allowing Mouse House ads to run on rival social media platforms that allegedly allowed child predators to target underage users.
Musk’s escalated his feud with Iger — whom he told to “go f-ck yourself” last week after Disney pulled its advertising from X following a disputed report that its ads were running next to antisemitic content on the site formerly known as Twitter.
“Bob Eiger thinks it’s cool to advertise next to child exploitation material. Real stand up guy,” Musk posted, as he misspelled the longtime media mogul’s name.
Musk’s outburst referred to an explosive lawsuit filed this week by New Mexico’s attorney general that accused Mark Zuckerberg-owned Facebook and Instagram of failing to moderate abusive content that included propositioning kids to star in porn movies.
“Walt Disney is turning in his grave over what Bob has done to his company,” Musk tweeted.
“Crazy that Disney has to be sued to stop this terrible behavior,” he added in replying to a tweet from Colin Rugg, co-owner of website Trending Politics, that asked whether Iger would pull Disney’s advertising from Facebook and Instagram parent Meta.
Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk’s tirade comes after Disney and other advertisers like NBCUniversal parent Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery pulled ads from X following a report by liberal watchdog Media Matters that promos from from major brands appeared next to anti-Semitic material.
Musk immediately followed through with a pledge to file a “thermonuclear” lawsuit against Media Matters.
Musk also faced a torrent of criticism when he agreed with a user who falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory was speaking “the actual truth.”
Although Musk has tried to clarify his remarks and apologized, he appeared defiant during a New York Times DealBook Summit interview on Nov. 29.
The Tesla CEO bristled at the notion that he was antisemitic and said that advertisers who left X, should not advertise on the site — and should not think they could blackmail him.
“Go f–k yourself,” he said.
Asking if that was clear, he added “Hey Bob,” an apparent reference to Iger, who spoke earlier at the event.
“If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f-k yourself. Go. F-k. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey, Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel.”
People who did not like him should consider the products his company make based on their quality, Musk said, pointing to electric cars from Tesla and SpaceX rockets.
“I will certainly not pander,” he said.
Iger hasn’t responded to Musk’s outburst.
Aside from calling for Iger’s head on Thursday, Musk also posted an Iger meme, depicting a black-and-white photo of comedic actors Lauren and Hardy cracking up.
“Drops more bombs than a B-52,” Musk wrote over a picture of the actors, which included the caption “‘Bob Iger’ That’s the joke.”
Musk also slammed the Disney — which is facing a proxy battle for board seats from activist investors — in a Dec. 5 interview with the automotive engineer Sandy Munro on his show “Munro Live.”
Munro asked him what founder Walt Disney would think of the company in its current state.
“I think Walt Disney’s turning in his grave faster than a drill bit,” Musk replied.
