Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger is explaining Disney's decision to pull its advertising from Elon Musk's X. He said, "I have a lot of respect for Elon and what he has accomplished. We know that Elon is larger than life in many respects, and that his name is very much connected to the companies he founded or owns. By him taking the position he took in a public manner, we felt that the association was not necessarily a positive one for us." Later in the day... Musk responded to Iger's comments about X during his own interview at the summit. Musk said, "What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it is going to kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company."
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00:00 Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger is explaining Disney's decision to pull its advertising
00:04 from Elon Musk's ex.
00:07 Iger discussed the matter during an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit in New
00:11 York on Wednesday afternoon.
00:13 He said, "I have a lot of respect for Elon and what he has accomplished.
00:17 We know that Elon is larger than life in many respects and that his name is very much connected
00:21 to the companies he founded or owns.
00:23 By him taking the position he took in a public manner, we felt that the association was not
00:27 necessarily a positive one for us."
00:30 Disney was among several major advertisers who abandoned the platform after the tech
00:33 mogul endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
00:37 During the conversation at the New York Times Dealbook Summit, Iger also said he's focused
00:40 on not repeating the same succession mistake he made last time.
00:44 According to Iger, "I've tried hard to conduct my own post-mortem, just so that we as a company
00:48 don't do it again."
00:49 He continued, "What did we do wrong?
00:52 And we discovered certain things that we could do better."
00:54 Iger added that the board's current succession process is robust right now, committing that
00:58 he would be stepping aside in two and a half years when his contract is up.
01:02 Later in the day, Musk responded to Iger's comments about X during his own interview
01:06 at the summit.
01:07 Musk said, "What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it is going to kill the company.
01:12 And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company."
01:16 He continued, "Don't advertise.
01:18 If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money,
01:22 go yourself.
01:24 Go yourself.
01:25 Is that clear?
01:26 Hey Bob, if you're in the audience, that's how I feel.
01:29 Don't advertise."
01:30 For more on this story, go to THR.com.
01:32 This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
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