RSS
IBM pulls its ads from Twitter/X after Elon Musk calls an antisemitic post the ‘actual truth’
(JTA) — IBM pulled $1 million in ads from X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after owner Elon Musk called an antisemitic post the “absolute truth,” his most direct endorsement of antisemitism since he started sparring with watchdogs who call out hate speech.
And the tech giant may not be the only one to cut its ad spending. The New York Times reported Thursday that ad salespeople for X were fielding questions about the post, and other white nationalist comments, from other major advertisers.
Musk was replying Wednesday to a user on X who wrote, “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 s— now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities [they] support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much.”
“You have said the actual truth,” Musk replied.
The post appeared to endorse the “Great Replacement Theory,” which posits that Jews are orchestrating the replacement of white populations in Western countries via the mass immigration of people of color. The theory motivated the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, and has inspired other mass shootings.
Musk’s endorsement of the post comes as reports of antisemitic harassment and violence are spiking during Israel’s war with Hamas.
IBM released a statement to the Financial Times saying it had “suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.”
Also troubling for advertisers are reports from a liberal watchdog, Media Matters, that their ads were appearing adjacent to posts by antisemites and white supremacists. On Thursday, Musk called Media Matters an “evil organization.”
Musk, known as the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla and SpaceX, the space travel firm, also canceled a scheduled appearance at the CEO component of the Asia Pacific Economic Coalition now meeting in San Francisco. He and organizers blamed a last-minute scheduling conflict.
Linda Yaccarino, whom Musk hired earlier this year as X’s CEO, after saying he would be hands-off on the platform, said in a post, without referring to her boss, that “discrimination should STOP.”
“X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination,” she wrote. “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong.”
Musk has flirted with antisemitic imagery since he took over the platform about a year ago. He attacked billionaire liberal philanthropist and hedge funder George Soros, a frequent target of antisemitism as someone who “hates humanity” and has repeatedly attacked and threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League, at one point blaming the antisemitism watchdog for the proliferation of antisemitism.
In a response to his “actual truth” post, Musk again took aim at the ADL.
“The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel,” he wrote. “This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. It is not right and needs to stop.”
Jewish groups. including the ADL, said Musk’s latest foray was dangerous.
“Elon Musk’s agreement with a user promoting elements of the Great Replacement theory isn’t the ‘truth’,” the American Jewish Committee said on the platform. “It is the deadliest antisemitic conspiracy theory in modern U.S. history and motivated the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.”
A letter by more than 100 Jewish activists called out Musk for “spreading the kind of antisemitism that leads to massacres.”
Musk is not the only conservative influencer who is now amplifying the “Great Replacement Theory” and singling out Jews. Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative campus movement, defended Musk in an appearance on his streamed talkshow.
“I don’t like generalizations, not every Jewish person believes that,” Kirk said. “It is true that some of the largest financiers of left wing anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans. They went all in on ‘woke’ and it wasn’t just ADL. It was some of the top Jewish organizations in the country that have done that.”
Tucker Carlson, the top-rated talkshow host fired earlier this year by Fox News Channel, joined Candace Owens, another far-right influencer, in claiming that wealthy Jews were paying to promote anti-white movements. Owens and Carlson were irked that Jewish donors were withdrawing funding from universities that have been the scenes of antisemitic harassment since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
“You were calling my children immoral for their skin color. You paid for that,” Carlson said on his streamed show Wednesday on X. “So why shouldn’t I be mad at you?”
Both have gone to bat for antisemitic statements in the past. Carlson endorsed the Great Replacement theory on his Fox show in 2021. Owens defended the rapper Kanye West during his stream of antisemitic comments last year.
Carlson and Kirk are both close to former President Donald Trump, who also has become more explicit in recent months in singling out Jews, sharing content suggesting that Jews who do not vote for him are a threat to the country.
The flooding of social media with antisemitic content featured in a call that the New York Times reported Friday between executives of the short video platform, TikTok, and Jewish celebrities.
“What is happening at TikTok is it is creating the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis,” said Sacha Baron Cohen, the actor and comedian who was among more than a dozen celebrities on the call. “Shame on you.”
—
The post IBM pulls its ads from Twitter/X after Elon Musk calls an antisemitic post the ‘actual truth’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Toronto Film Festival CEO Apologizes Again for Canceling, Then Rescheduling Screening of Oct. 7 Documentary
Skyline of Toronto, Canada. Photo Credit: Aaron Davis, Wikimedia Commons, June 2020.
The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has apologized again for the festival’s decision to cancel and then reschedule the screening of a documentary about the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“I want to apologize for any hurt, frustration, or disappointment that our communication about the film has caused, and for any mischaracterizations that have taken root,” Cameron Bailey said at a pre-festival event on Wednesday, according to The Canadian Press. “We’re working now — and we will be for a while — to clarify things and to repair relationships.”
Bailey made the comments during his first public appearance since the festival stirred controversy last week when it removed the documentary “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” from its official lineup of films. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, the documentary recounts how retired Israeli Army general Noam Tibon traveled from his home in Tel Aviv to the Nahal Oz kibbutz to rescue his son and his family from Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack. The film combines news interviews with footage from the deadly massacre.
Bailey said on Wednesday that TIFF originally wanted to showcase the film out of “a desire to share a painful but important story with audiences who choose to witness it,” as reported by The Canadian Press. “That commitment to challenging, relevant screen storytelling remains strong,” he added.
Festival organizers pulled the film last week because of issues with “legal clearance of all footage.” The move sparked widespread outrage from Jewish groups, entertainment industry leaders, and politicians. In response, Bailey apologized on Aug. 13 for disinviting the film and said TIFF was committed to working with the filmmakers to meet the festival’s screening requirements.
The next day, Bailey and Avrich announced in a joint statement that the film has officially rejoined the festival. They reached a resolution that clears up “important safety, legal, and programming concerns” regarding the film after hearing “pain and frustration” from the public, according to their statement.
“TIFF’s communication around [the film’s] requirements did not clearly articulate the concerns and roadblocks that arose and for that, we are sorry,” Bailet and Avrich said. “Both TIFF and the filmmakers have always been committed to presenting diverse perspectives and a belief in the power of storytelling to spark and encourage dialogue and understanding. We thank our audiences and community for their passion, honesty and belief in the importance of film.”
“The Road Between Us” is now slated to make its world premiere at TIFF on Sept. 10 at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Tickets go on sale for the public on Monday. TIFF will run from Sept. 4-14.
RSS
Arizona Man Charged With Threatening Synagogues to Take Out ‘Jew Government’
Kevin Charles Pyles, 32, Glendale, Arizona, man accused of threatening violence against Jews. Photo: Screenshot.
Law enforcement officials in Arizona have arraigned a man from city of Glendale who is accused of threatening to commit antisemitic hate crimes and mass casualty events, according to local media reports.
Over four months, Kevin Charles Pyles, 32, declared to his social media followers that he hates Jews, people of color, and the state of Israel, adding that he believes the US is a “Jew government.” As Pyles’ delusions grew, so did his ambitions, and before long threatened to detonate explosives outside the local Sha’arei Shalom Congregation synagogue by shooting propane tanks.
According to a CBS affiliate, the disturbing tirades caught the attention of the Secure Community Network (SCN) — a nonprofit organization which partners with law enforcement to promote safety and thwart imminent threats to the Jewish community — which reported Pyles to Phoenix police.
“This is very painful. It’s not right to do that,” Rabbi Pinhas Nisanov of Sha’arei Shalom Congregation told KTVK-3TV in a statement. “We have to respect each, and each other, even other religions.”
In another statement to the outlet, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz of Arizona Jews for Justice said, “Hatred is growing and antisemitism is growing, and we all have to call it out wherever we see it. Wherever we see stereotypes and bias and hate, we have to call it out.”
Antisemitic activity across the country continues to challenge a once ironclad consensus that the US is a safe haven for the Jewish people.
On Monday, a telecenter operator who was, until Tuesday, employed by Fidelity Investments launched a volley of antisemitic insults at a Jewish journalist via social media after learning that her children attend a summer camp which fosters pride in Zionism.
“F—k you and f—k your kid who goes to Nazi summer camp!” Danielle Gordon, the now-former employee, wrote to Bethany Mandel, author and contributor to the “Mom Wars” Substack. “Free Palestine from you sick f—ks!”
The exchange began when Mandel publicly discussed the presence of a paraglider over the camp’s property which, due to lingering trauma caused by the memory of the use of paragliders in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel — which preceded an explosion of antisemitic incidents across the US — appeared to pose an imminent security threat. Gordon seemingly took umbrage at Mandel’s concern for Jewish life and the lives of her children, and hastily fired off the messages from an account which listed her legal name.
“I found it troubling that she sent such antisemitic vitriol when she’s just a working class, college educated white woman living in Denver — that is how far this rot has spread,” Mandel told The Algemeiner on Monday after her sharing of Gordon’s messages amassed over a million views on X. “Antisemitism has become normative discourse for people of her demographic.”
Mandel continued, “That word, Zionist, triggered her very much, and she had no qualms about coming at me, coming at my kids … There should be consequences for talking like this.”
This incident came just weeks after another sudden outburst of hatred against Jews.
Earlier this month, Eden Deckerhoff — a female student at Florida State University (FSU) — allegedly assaulted a Jewish male classmate at the Leach Student Recreation Center after noticing his wearing apparel issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“F—k Israel, Free Palestine. Put it [the video] on Barstool FSU. I really don’t give a f—k,” the woman said before shoving the man, according to video taken by the victim. “You’re an ignorant son of a b—h.” Deckerhoff has since been charged with misdemeanor battery.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Deckerhoff has denied assaulting the student when questioned by investigators, telling them, “No I did not shove him at all; I never put my hands on him.” However, law enforcement charged her with misdemeanor battery and described the incident in court documents as seen in viral footage of the incident, acknowledging that Deckerhoff “appears to touch [the man’s] left shoulder.” Despite her denial, the Democrat noted, she has offered to apologize.
Days later, an unknown person or group graffitied swastikas and other hateful messages on the grounds of the Israeli-American Council’s (IAC) national headquarters in Los Angeles, underscoring the severity of the antisemitism crisis in the US.
“F—k Jews,” one cluster of graffiti said.
“BDS,” the message added, referring to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.
The wave of hate follows a pattern of year-on-year surges in acts of anti-Jewish bigotry.
In 2024, according to newly released FBI statistics, hate crimes perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the FBI’s counting them. Jewish American groups noted that this surge, which included 178 assaults, is being experienced by a demographic group which constitutes just 2 percent of the US population.
A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
RSS
Netanyahu Says Israel to Begin Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations to End War, Release Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had directed the immediate initiation of negotiations for the release of all hostages in Gaza and the conclusion of the war there on terms acceptable to Israel.