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Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed free speech iconoclast, delivered some choice words to the advertisers exercising their own agency by leaving his platform, X (formerly Twitter), after he endorsed an antisemitic post.

"Go f*** yourself," he said, in an interview at the New York Times (NYT) DealBook conference earlier this week.

Musk's combative posture against fleeing advertisers highlights a warped vision of open expression. Sketched out in public remarks and revealed through X's actions, Musk is free to express himself and wield the powers of the platform to punish his perceived enemies and reward allies. But that freedom, apparently, doesn't extend to others, like companies choosing where to put their ad dollars.

Musk specifically called out Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spoke earlier during the conference and briefly explained why the company suspended advertising on X, saying that "we just felt that the association with that position and Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us."

But instead of recognizing the speech of others he may not agree with, Musk lashed out, characterizing the advertising suspensions as attempted "blackmail" against him, which will lead to the eventual demise of X.

“What it’s going to do is it’s going to kill the company, and the whole world will know the advertisers killed the company,” Musk said.

But Disney and Iger have rights too and are free from any obligation to tithe Musk's temple to free speech. And thus, Musk has again done the impossible, this time managing to generate public sympathy for a billionaire executive. Shed a tear for Bob.

Musk further revealed his one-sided view of free speech when he doubled down on X's prior decision to throttle news outlets and competitors on X. The host of the conference, a columnist for the Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin, asked Musk to admit that he punished the news outlet. Musk didn't deny it.

"Any organization that refuses to buy a subscription is not going to be recommended," he said, referring to institutional subscriptions to X.

When asked what that dynamic says about free speech, Musk replied, "It says free speech is not exactly free — it costs a little bit."

In what now resembles a recurring gag, X CEO Linda Yaccarino went on the platform to smooth the rougher edges of Musk's inflammatory public comments.