Elon Musk opens new front in Disney fight (2024)

Musk, the billionaire owner of X, is soliciting people who want to sue Disney for discrimination. He says he is willing to help pay for their cases.

“If you were discriminated against by Disney or its subsidiaries (ABC, ESPN, Marvel, etc), just reply to this post to receive legal support," Musk said Tuesday in a post on X.

The outreach came the same day actress Gina Carano sued Disney and Lucasfilm, with Musk’s financial backing, for wrongful termination from “The Mandalorian," a television series inspired by the Star Wars franchise.

The lawsuit and solicitation of additional complaints are the latest escalations in Musk’s beef with Disney and its CEO Bob Iger, a feud that kicked off several months ago and has shown little sign of letting up. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Musk published several tweets that were critical of Disney.

In an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Iger declined to comment about Musk.

Debra Aho Williamson, an independent tech analyst, said Musk’s Disney fight is a warning sign for brands that advertise on X, as it shows he is willing to target companies that anger him.

“He clearly wanted to call out Disney," she said. “Does an advertiser want to get caught up in that? Do they want to be the next Disney that is going to be the target of Musk’s ire? I think a lot of brand advertisers don’t want to be in that position."

Since the feud started, Musk has called for Iger to be fired. He has also thrown his support behind Nelson Peltz, the activist shareholder trying to shake up Disney who is seeking a seat on the company’s board.

Representatives for X, Disney and Peltz didn’t respond to requests for comment.

On Tuesday, Carano alleged in a lawsuit that she was wrongfully terminated from “The Mandalorian" over her social-media posts and the ensuing backlash. Carano shared an Instagram story in 2021 that said, “most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views."

She also made comments about pronouns and transgender people that drew criticism.

Carano said Musk’s platform was assisting with the lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm.

The financial backing to Carano comes after Musk said last year that X would fund lawsuits from people who claimed they were unfairly fired for their posts on the social-media platform.

“As a sign of X Corp’s commitment to free speech, we’re proud to provide financial support for Gina Carano’s lawsuit, empowering her to seek vindication of her free speech rights on X and the ability to work without bullying, harassment, or discrimination," X said in a statement.

Lawyers for Carano didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The fight between Musk and Disney started in November after the company was part of an advertiser exodus from his social-media platform. The move followed Musk supporting an antisemitic tweet and a liberal watchdog group saying pro-Nazi content was running near advertisem*nts from major companies on the platform.

X later sued the group, Media Matters for America, alleging the publication misrepresented how content appears on the platform and was trying to scare away advertisers. A representative for Media Matters said at the time that the organization stood behind its reporting.

During an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit in November, Iger was asked about suspending Disney’s advertising on X.

“We just felt that the association with that position, and with Elon Musk, and X, was not necessarily a positive one for us," Iger said.

In a separate interview at the same conference, Musk singled out Disney as one of several companies that he said were trying to blackmail him by suspending their advertising campaigns.

“Go f— yourself," Musk told those advertisers. “Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey Bob," he said, which many observers interpreted as a response to Iger.

Musk said at the conference that he had previously tried to clarify that he hadn’t meant anything antisemitic by his post. “Essentially, I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me, and arguably, to those who are antisemitic," Musk said. He added: “I’m quite sorry. That was not my intention."

In December, Musk called for Iger to be fired, saying “Walt Disney is turning in his grave over what Bob has done to his company." Disney declined to comment on Musk’s comments at the time.

Musk has also thrown his support behind Peltz, the activist shareholder seeking a seat on Disney’s board. Peltz has pushed for better management of the Disney+ streaming service, an improved strategy for ESPN and greater investment in the company’s theme parks.

“Brutal track record," Musk said about Disney’s board in January, responding to a post by Peltz’s Trian Group. “Shareholders have been incredibly poorly served by the @Disney board!"

Musk and Peltz were photographed together in Los Angeles over the weekend at the movie premiere of “Lola," a film that Peltz’s daughter, Nicola Peltz Beckham, wrote, directed and starred in.

The feud shows how Musk will use his own platform to his advantage, said Williamson, the tech analyst.

“For many years it has been his mouthpiece," she said. “Now that it’s his company, he is continuing to use X to promote the causes that he believes in."

Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com