Two companies now say they will accept advertising for director Alex Gibney’s upcoming documentary about Elon Musk, following earlier reporting that a number of social media platforms had rejected the ads.
The Hollywood Reporter published a story Friday saying that TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X had all refused to run paid ads promoting the trailer for “Musk.”
However, when TechCrunch reached out to Meta on Saturday, a spokesperson said, “This was an error and the ads are being restored.” We’ve asked Meta for more details and will update this article if we hear back.
YouTube also posted an update Saturday, noting that “the trailer has always been available on YouTube.” (Indeed, that’s how we were able embed it at the end of this article.) The company added, “When submitted as an ad, it was temporarily restricted by our system. Following review the ad has been cleared to run.”
X’s rejection is unsurprising — Musk, who owns the social media platform, recently posted that “Dogshit is worth more respect than Gibney.”
But Meta, TikTok, and YouTube reportedly rejected the ad for “political content,” which the platforms have various restrictions on. (Meta said last year that it will stop accepting political ads in the European Union, while TikTok says it doesn’t run them at all.) It’s not clear how a documentary trailer counts as campaign advertising, and the film’s U.S. distributor Bleecker Street told the Hollywood Reporter that it’s appealing the rejections.
Gibney has directed acclaimed documentaries including “Going Clear” (about the Church of Scientology) and “The Inventor” (about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos), as well as a movie about Steve Jobs. “Musk,” his latest, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and has received almost universally positive reviews. The film currently has a 100% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is set for theatrical release in the United States on October 9.
Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri described the nearly four-hour documentary as a revealing look at Musk’s tech career, his alliance with President Donald Trump, and his personal life, with interview subjects including ex-wife Justine Musk and former right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair (who recently had a child with Musk but now describes him as “a nuke”).
Ebiri wrote that while the film is a “fascinating” character study, adding, “As a tale of modern business, it’s revealing. And as a warning about our future, it’s terrifying.”
Despite the initial wave of critical acclaim, The Hollywood Reporter also said that Universal Pictures was wavering in its commitment to distribute the film internationally, reportedly due to the studio’s fear of angering the Trump administration. (Universal subsequently said it will release the documentary in theaters but is still figuring out its release strategy).
TechCrunch has also reached out to TikTok, X, and Bleecker Street for comment.
This post has been updated to include YouTube’s statement that it has cleared the ad.
