Lionsgate is suspending ads from X (formerly Twitter) after owner Elon Musk made comments on the platform that have been condemned as antisemitic.
The film studio, which this weekend is releasing the new “Hunger Games” prequel movie “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” has not issued a formal statement condemning Musk. But a Lionsgate spokesperson confirmed to IndieWire the company has suspended advertising on X because of his tweets. It’s unclear how much advertising or how many ad dollars are being suspended.
Lionsgate’s move follows similar decisions by tech companies like Apple and IBM to suspend ads on X. Media Matters in a report revealed that posts from Apple, IBM, Oracle, Bravo (NBCUniversal), and Comcast were all shown next to posts that promoted far-right content.
IBM said in a statement to Axios it “has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination, and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.”
Earlier this week, Musk was criticized after he replied to an antisemitic post — a response to an ad from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism — and wrote, “You have said the actual truth,” and then criticized the Anti-Defamation League.
“The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. It is not right and needs to stop,” Musk wrote.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Thursday after controversy about Musk’s comments started boiling over said in a tweeted statement, “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.”
