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Neil Young Is Done With X & Elon Musk: ‘We Are Taking Action Against His Company’

The rocker also urged Palestinian & Jewish people to set aside their differences and stand together amid Israel-Hamas war.

Neil Young participates in a press conference during Farm Aid at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center on September 23, 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana.

Neil Young participates in a press conference during Farm Aid at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center on September 23, 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana.

Gary Miller/Getty Images

Neil Young is taking a stand against Elon Musk. On Monday (Nov. 20), the rock icon revealed that he will no longer be supporting X, formerly known as Twitter, and urged Palestinian and Jewish people to band together in light of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“We are stopping all use of X that we can control,” Young wrote in a statement posted to his website. “For reasons that should be obvious to the richest man on Earth, we are taking action against his company.” The post featured an image of Musk with the text “Tesla should fly flags of love, not hate” written over the billionaire’s face.


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The statement continued, “For our many Palestinian friends and our many Jewish friends, we do need to start over in the present and release our terrible connections to the past. As bad as they are, they need to be forgotten so we can be free to move on in life together, all humanity, focused on saving our planet for future generations of all people.”

Young’s statement comes after the tech mogul approved of a Friday tweet that accused Jewish people facing antisemitism due to the Israel-Hamas war of furthering the “exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them” and supporting “hordes of minorities” to become immigrants. Musk replied, “You have said the actual truth.”

“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said in response to Musk’s co-signing of the tweet.

On Sunday, Musk addressed his stance and explained “nothing could be further from the truth” with regards to him being antisemitic. “I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all.”

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Last month, Young announced that he’ll release a new album, titled Before and After, on Dec. 8. The album will feature fresh takes on Young’s favorite lesser-known tracks from his songwriting vault, per a press release. “The feeling is captured, not in pieces, but as a whole piece — designed to be listened to that way. This music presentation defies shuffling, digital organization, separation. Only for listening. That says it all,” Young wrote in a statement.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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Val Blavatnik
Courtesy WMG

Val Blavatnik

Business News

Val Blavatnik to Oversee Warner Music Canada in New Role at Warner Music Group

Blavatnik will oversee Warner Music Canada as managing director of Warner Music North America, U.K. and Corporate Development at WMG. As part of a slew of executive announcements, Simon Robson will be leaving the company, while Alejandro Duque takes the top international role.

Val Blavatnik, the 28-year-old son of Warner Music Group majority owner and vice chairman Len Blavatnik, has been named managing director of Warner Music North America, U.K. and Corporate Development at the Warner Music Group, the company announced Friday (Sept. 25). In his new role the younger Blavatnik, who has held several roles at the company in recent years, and has been a board member since 2023, expects to “unify and drive business and operational strategy across these markets while guiding the company’s investment strategy to support growth,” according to a press release.

The Blavatnik announcement is part of a flurry of new executive announcements that CEO Robert Kyncl made this morning. In addition, Atlantic Music Group chairman/CEO Elliot Grainge will take on ADA in the U.S. as its new chairman, while Alejandro Duque, who has held the dual roles of president of Warner Latin and president of ADA since last July, has been named president of Warner Music International, adding Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa under his oversight. (Duque will continue to oversee ADA outside the U.S.) Zach Friedman, currently COO at Atlantic Music Group, will add the title of vice chair of ADA U.S. to his resume.

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