If you saw Disney and Elon Musk trending, you might have thought they were for separate reasons.
But they’re actually related to one another. After all, clicking on any of the hashtags will take you to posts that say that Musk has bashed Disney.
In response, many are unsubscribing from Disney+. But what exactly happened that led to this extreme public backlash?
On November 30, 2023, at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Elon Musk was asked about his views on advertisers pulling out of X. He said, “Don’t advertise… go f*ck yourself.” He also mentioned Disney boss Bob Iger. So many are canceling their Disney+ subscriptions in protest. It hasn’t been reported if the movement has put a dent in Disney+ numbers, but people online are with Elon.
What Did Elon Musk Say That Riled Everyone Up?
On November 30, 2023, at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Elon Musk his thoughts about advertisers pulling out of Twitter/ X.
What Musk said in response made many raise their eyebrows. He said:
“I hope they stop. Don’t advertise. If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f*ck yourself. Go f*ck yourself.”
He also singled out Disney boss Bob Iger and specifically said, “Hi Bob,” while jokingly asking if he was listening in the audience.
Why Did Disney Stop Advertising On Twitter/X?
Disney is one of the companies that paused their ads on Twitter/ X after Elon Musk agreed to an antisemitic conspiracy theory. When user @breakingbaht penned:
“Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing…”
Musk added fuel to the fire by responding, “You have said the truth.”
This and further comments led to companies like Apple, WB Discovery, Disney, IBM, Lions Gate Entertainment, etc, withdrawing their ads from the platform.
Bob Iger responded to Musk’s vitriolic words and said at the same DealBook Summit but in another separate interview. The Disney boss said:
“I have a lot of respect for Elon and what he’s accomplished. We felt the association with that position and Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us, and we decided we’d pull our advertising.”
Surprisingly, the billionaire owner of Tesla also admitted during his interview with Sorkin that he shouldn’t have sent out the tweet. Musk said:
“Of all the posts I’ve done on the platform–there might be 30,000–once in a while, I might say something foolish. I’m sorry for that tweet or post; it was foolish of me.”
But the damage was done by then, and the fire was lit.
Is Disney Losing Subscribers?
Elon Musk’s words were like a rallying call to many as they banded together to take revenge on Disney+. But why specifically the House of Mouse when so many other companies have also paused their ads on Musk’s platform?
It’s because Elon specifically addressed Bob Iger in his initial statement. There were calls to boycott the streaming service and unsubscribe from it. Plenty of people posted that they had canceled their subscriptions.
But did it affect the streaming numbers?
As per the Twitter/X page @KobeissiLetter, “Search interest for ‘cancel Disney+’ and ‘cancel Hulu’ surges 120% after Elon Musk interview.”
How far-reaching the effects of Elon’s words will be is unknown. However, many doubt that the number of unsubscriptions will be able to put a dent in the number of Disney+ subs.
After all, as per a November 8, 2023, New York Times story, “Disney+ now has roughly 113 million subscribers.”
So, if Elon’s fans want Disney to feel the pinch, they must work harder. It certainly will be interesting to see if that happens.
Will you be canceling your Disney+ subscription? Do you think Elon was right to lash out at Iger like that? Was Musk in the wrong to agree with the initial anti-semitic conspiracy tweet?
Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
Source: NY Times
