Elon Musk wants Disney CEO Bob Iger to be 'fired immediately' over X ad chaos

Elon Musk has stated that Disney CEO Bob Iger should be "fired immediately" after the corporation discontinued advertising on X — "Walt Disney is turning in his grave over what Bob has done to his company," he wrote in a series of tweets directed at the mass media and entertainment behemoth.

It comes only a week after he warned businesses who participated in an ad boycott of his platform, formerly known as Twitter, to "Go [expletive] yourself."

Some businesses have stopped advertising on X due to antisemitic fears.

On Friday, Disney did not immediately reply to a BBC request for comment.

Iger made a surprise comeback to Disney a little over a year ago, less than a year after retiring, to guide it through challenging circumstances, as its share price plunged and streaming service Disney+ continued to lose money.

During his initial tenure as CEO, he was credited with orchestrating huge acquisitions involving the likes of Pixar, Marvel Comics, Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, and Lucasfilm, the home of Star Wars.

These actions, together with the establishment of amusement parks, increased the company's market worth more than fivefold.

However, his second tenure has been marked by job losses and other difficulties.

Musk appeared to allude to the recent poor box-office performance of several Disney corporations in a Thursday post, claiming Iger unleashed "more bombs than a B-52".

The billionaire also accused Disney of promoting on other social media platforms that permitted provocative content.

Musk lambasted advertisers who had abandoned X and threatened that they would destroy the social media platform in a profanity-laced tirade last week at an event in New York.

He also accused firms like Disney, Apple, and Comcast of attempting to blackmail him by halting advertising on the site.

"I don't want them to advertise," Musk said in response to a question at the New York Times' DealBook Summit.

"If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go [expletive] yourself."

"Go. [Expletive]. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you're in the audience, that's how I feel."

Musk was probably alluding to Iger, who spoke earlier in the day at the conference.

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, who also attended the conference, has now tweeted what she dubbed Musk's "candid interview."

She said, "X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street — and the X community is powerful and here to welcome you."

Musk has been in Israel since last month when he appeared to directly support an antisemitic conspiracy theory. He denied the tweet was antisemitic but apologised, claiming it was the "dumbest" thing he had ever published on the internet.