Elon Musk’s X, Unilever reach settlement after left-leaning ad boycott dustup
Elon Musk’s X announced Friday that it has reached a settlement with Unilever in the social media firm’s sweeping federal antitrust suit against a left-leaning advertising cartel and several companies accused of orchestrating an ad boycott.
Filed in Texas federal court in August, the antitrust suit accused the left-wing Global Alliance for Responsible Media – a now-defunct nonprofit unit of the powerful World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) – of illegally colluding with Unilever and several corporate advertisers to boycott X over its alleged failure to meet brand safety standards.
An X spokesperson said the firm’s claims against Unilever had been “resolved” and it is no longer a defendant in the suit. Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Hellman’s and various other consumer goods firms, has plans for its brands to resume advertising on X, according to the spokesperson.
“X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform,” X said in a statement. “Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry.”
The lawsuit initially named Unilever as a defendant alongside GARM, its parent firm WFA, CVS Health, Mars and Orsted.
The boycott cost X “billions of dollars in advertising revenue,” according to the suit.
X is “continuing to pursue our antitrust claims against the other defendants,” the spokesperson added.
Further details on the Unilever settlement were not immediately available.
“Unilever has reached an agreement with X, which has committed to meeting our responsibility standards to ensure the safety and performance of our brands on the platform,” a Unilever spokesperson said in a statement. “We cannot comment further on the terms of the agreement.”
GARM initially came under public scrutiny in July after the release of a damning report by the House Judiciary Committee.
GARM and its members were accused of coordinating an effort to suppress online free speech and restricts ads to a slew of news outlets, including The Post.
The WFA shut down its GARM initiative in August, citing its status as a nonprofit with limited resources and the costs of mounting a legal defense against Musk.
X is seeking trebled compensatory damages and injunctive relief against the defendants.
The WFA’s membership includes many of the world’s largest companies, including Disney, Coca-Cola and Adidas, that collectively control 90% of global marketing spending, according to its website.
Its leadership has denied any wrongdoing.
In an Aug. 13 interview with The Post, X CEO Linda Yaccarino described the lawsuit as a key step toward fixing what she described as a “broken” ecosystem in digital advertising.
“We were victimized by a small group of people pushing their authority or ability to monopolize what gets monetized,” Yaccarino said. “GARM was just a symptom, but [finding] the root cause of the entire ecosystem being broken, that’s what the suit is about.”
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee’s report detailed alleged efforts by GARM and its left-wing executive Robert Rakowitz to stifle the flow of ad dollars to a variety of outlets, including Daily Wire, Fox News, comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” and others, who were accused of spreading disinformation.
In one email detailed in the report, Rakowitz appeared to brag that X was “80% below revenue forecasts” since GARM targeted Musk over brand safety issues.
Rakowitz said the email was meant as a “self-effacing joke.”
The House committee’s probe focused on whether GARM, WFA and its members violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which governs illegal restraint of trade.
The committee also sent out letters to more than 40 companies to provide information and preserve documents related to its dealings with GARM.
Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel, CVS and General Motors were among the companies that received letters.
