Musk adds Shell, Nestlé, Lego to X advertiser ‘boycott’ lawsuit

Elon Musk’s X is adding several more companies to its lawsuit accusing firms of conspiring in an advertising “boycott” on the social media platform.

The newest complaint, filed over the weekend, adds Shell International, Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Lego, Tyson Foods and Pinterest to the growing list of companies.

Last August, X sued a coalition of advertisers, accusing the group of conspiring to withhold “billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”

The original suit took aim at the World Federation of Advertisers and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media initiative that boycotted X. The suit accused Unilever, Mars and CVS, among others, of violating antitrust law and evading the competition process.

Since Musk took over X, formerly Twitter, the platform has struggled to retain advertisers as companies express concern about content moderation.

Musk lashed out at the advertisers before the original suit was filed, telling them to “go f— yourself.” He later walked back the statement, but it sent companies a harsh message about how he wants to conduct business with those that may disagree with his practices.