Anti-Semitic scandal at X: Jaccarino refuses to step down as CEO – FT
X CEO Linda Jaccarino does not give in to pressure from advertisers to step down as major brands freeze ad spending over concerns about its owner Elon Musk and anti-Semitic content.
He writes about it Financial Times.
According to three FT sources familiar with the situation, Jaccarino’s top executives and friends in the advertising industry privately urged her to resign over the weekend to save her reputation.
But Jaccarino refused to leave her position, saying she believed in the mission of X and its employees, according to two people who spoke to her. X declined to comment.
Musk, who bought X last year for $44 billion, came under fire last week for publicly espousing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on the platform.
“Meanwhile, two reports from the non-profit group Media Matters for America released last week found advertisements from leading brands alongside posts promoting ‘pro-Nazi’ content.
The research prompted brands such as IBM, Apple, Walt Disney, Comcast and Warner Bros. suspend their ads on the platform, fearing that their ads will appear alongside other objectionable material. These and other companies are also trying to distance themselves from Musk after his comments,” the newspaper reminds.
“I advised Linda to leave via text and told her that if she stayed, it would only hurt her reputation,” said Lou Pascalis, CEO of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory and former top media executive at Bank of America.
Brands could face shareholder complaints and potential customer boycotts if they continue to advertise on the platform, he said.
“I would question the decision of any brand — any brand that still advertises on X,” he added. “Musk has to find a new revenue model because he killed advertising on the platform, period,” stressed Pascalis.
X hired Jaccarino in June to bring advertisers back to the platform after many of them cut their spending as Musk loosened moderation policies and cut resources and security staff.
We will remind:
A number of companies including Apple, Disney, Comcast, Lionsgate and Paramount Global will stop buying ads on the X platform after scandals related to anti-Semitism.
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