Elon Musk Appeals to Advertisers After Controversial Remarks

‘It wasn’t to advertisers as a whole. It was with respect to freedom of speech,’ the X owner says.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 16, 2023. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Elon Musk on Wednesday clarified some of the criticism he levied at major corporations who pulled advertising from his social media platform X while telling them “don’t advertise.”

During the Cannes Lions advertising event in Cannes, France, Mr. Musk was asked by Mark Read, the CEO of advertising firm WPP, about defiant remarks that Mr. Musk delivered seven months ago.