Meta and YouTube have reversed their rejection of ads for Alex Gibney's Elon Musk documentary, according to TechCrunch. The platforms initially rejected paid ads for the "Musk" trailer on Friday, citing political content policies, but backtracked by Saturday after appeals from the film's distributor.
Meta's spokesperson told TechCrunch the rejection was "an error and the ads are being restored," while YouTube said the ad "was temporarily restricted by our system" before being "cleared to run" following review. The Hollywood Reporter had initially reported that TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X had all refused to run the ads.
X owner Elon Musk is still blocking the ads on his platform. TechCrunch reports that Musk posted that "Dogshit is worth more respect than Gibney," referring to the Oscar-winning documentarian.
Gibney's nearly four-hour film, which premiered at Venice and currently holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, examines Musk's life and includes interviews with ex-wife Justine Musk. The film covers Musk's alliance with President Trump. Meta and TikTok's "political content" rationale conflates documentary journalism with political advertising, a distinction worth questioning given the platforms' content moderation approach to controversial figures.
The reversals follow appeals from Bleecker Street, the film's distributor. Meta and YouTube appeared to reverse course after the rejection drew attention from a major studio, citing system errors and policy reviews rather than acknowledging direct pressure.
The documentary arrives October 9. Vulture's review called it "fascinating" and "terrifying", a "warning about our future." The platform dispute has added to pre-release attention for the film.
TikTok remains the only platform blocking ads, maintaining its stated position on political content.
