The acrimonious relationship between Elon Musk and the Disney Corporation has been well documented. Disney, who has had a tumultuous year, is currently locked in a back-and-forth with Musk over advertising dollars on X, among other things. It wasn’t bad enough for the flailing Mouse to pick fights with conservatives, parents, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, so they decided to battle with perhaps the most vindictive CEO in America.
Musk has been under fire since purchasing Twitter in an attempt to restore some semblance of free speech to the platform. Once the darling of the woke left, the Space X head’s insistence on free thought and his willingness to consider more conservative opinions has landed him in considerable hot water with the left. That, however, hasn’t deterred the maverick businessman from carving his own path and leaving burned bridges in his wake.
Recently, Disney spearheaded a movement to deprive Musk of advertising dollars on X, pulling Disney ads over perceived antisemitic posts Musk was involved in on the platform. Despite the fact that there is no tangible evidence that Musk is in any way antisemitic, advertisers rushed to pull their content from X in a misguided attempt to pressure Musk into towing the liberal line. Naturally, it failed.
During the DealBook conference, Musk threw down the gauntlet to Disney CEO Bob Iger and other advertisers when he said: “I hope they stop. Don’t advertise. If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f*ck yourself. Go f*ck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.” As if the scathing words weren’t enough, Musk took the extra step of removing the Disney app from all Tesla vehicles.
In a shot across the bow, Musk removed access to the Disney streaming app from all Tesla models. Tesla has pre-loaded entertainment options for users to access during the daily charging sessions that often take an hour or longer. However, Tesla owners will no longer be able to watch Disney options without utilizing a complicated workaround to get to the app.
The ongoing spat hasn’t settled well with some owners who count on the app to entertain their kids while they drive. One owner, who ironically posted on X, said: “So now I, as a mom, get to deal with telling my toddlers we can’t watch Disney+ while in our Tesla and deal with their upset feelings because 2 grown men can’t have a civil discussion and move on.” There appears to be no simple solution on the horizon, as both Musk and Disney have dug in.
Perhaps it is a good thing that Tesla owners can no longer watch Disney offerings in their charging vehicles. The company continues to offer woke programming, often not suitable for children, and Musk removing the app is probably a good thing for families, even if parents are forced to entertain their kids on their own. It is doubtful that this professional tiff will be resolved anytime soon, and for the foreseeable future, Tesla owners will have to entertain their children without Disney while they charge their cars.
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