{"id":3491945,"date":"2026-09-26T17:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/meta-and-youtube-announce-they-will-indeed-air-ads-for-the-musk-documentary-after-all\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T17:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T17:44:00","slug":"meta-and-youtube-announce-they-will-indeed-air-ads-for-the-musk-documentary-after-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/meta-and-youtube-announce-they-will-indeed-air-ads-for-the-musk-documentary-after-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta and YouTube announce they will indeed air ads for the \u2018Musk\u2019 documentary after all"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two firms have announced they will permit advertising for director Alex Gibney\u2019s forthcoming documentary on Elon Musk, after prior reports indicated that several social media platforms had denied the ads.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter ran a story on Friday stating that TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X had all declined to display paid advertisements promoting the trailer for \u201cMusk.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, when TechCrunch contacted Meta on Saturday, a representative stated, \u201cThis was a mistake and the ads are being reinstated.\u201d We\u2019ve sought additional information from Meta and will update this article if we receive a response.<\/p>\n

YouTube also provided an update on Saturday, mentioning that \u201cthe trailer has always been accessible on YouTube.\u201d (Indeed, that\u2019s how we were able embed it at the conclusion of this article.) The company further stated, \u201cWhen submitted as an ad, it was briefly restricted by our system. After review, the ad has been approved for airing.\u201d<\/p>\n

X\u2019s refusal comes as no surprise \u2014 Musk, who owns the social media site, recently tweeted that \u201cDogshit deserves more respect than Gibney.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube reportedly turned down the ad for its \u201cpolitical content,\u201d which these platforms have various limitations regarding. (Meta announced last year that it would cease accepting political ads in the European Union, while TikTok states it doesn\u2019t run political advertisements at all.) It remains unclear how a documentary trailer qualifies as campaign advertising, and the film\u2019s U.S. distributor Bleecker Street informed the Hollywood Reporter that it has contested the denials.<\/p>\n

Gibney has directed celebrated documentaries such as \u201cGoing Clear\u201d (about the Church of Scientology) and \u201cThe Inventor\u201d (focused on Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos), in addition to a film about Steve Jobs. \u201cMusk,\u201d his most recent work, debuted at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and has garnered nearly universally positive feedback. The film currently holds a 100% \u201cfresh\u201d rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on October 9.<\/p>\n

Vulture\u2019s Bilge Ebiri described the nearly four-hour documentary as an insightful exploration of Musk\u2019s technological journey, his connection with President Donald Trump, and his private life, featuring interviewees including ex-wife Justine Musk and former right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair (who recently had a child with Musk but now refers to him as \u201ca nuke\u201d).<\/p>\n

Ebiri remarked that while the film is a \u201ccaptivating\u201d character study, he added, \u201cAs a narrative of contemporary business, it\u2019s illuminating. And as a cautionary tale about our future, it\u2019s chilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of the initial surge of critical praise, The Hollywood Reporter also mentioned that Universal Pictures was hesitating in its commitment to distribute the film globally, reportedly out of concern of provoking the Trump administration. (Universal later confirmed that it will release the documentary in theaters but is still determining its release strategy).<\/p>\n

TechCrunch has also reached out to TikTok, X, and Bleecker Street for comments.<\/p>\n

This post has been updated to include YouTube\u2019s announcement that it has approved the ad.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When you make a purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not impact our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/div>\n
\n

Two firms have announced they will permit advertising for director Alex Gibney\u2019s forthcoming documentary on Elon Musk, after prior reports indicated that several social media platforms had denied the ads.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter ran a story on Friday stating that TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X had all declined to display paid advertisements promoting the trailer for \u201cMusk.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, when TechCrunch contacted Meta on Saturday, a representative stated, \u201cThis was a mistake and the ads are being reinstated.\u201d We\u2019ve sought additional information from Meta and will update this article if we receive a response.<\/p>\n

YouTube also provided an update on Saturday, mentioning that \u201cthe trailer has always been accessible on YouTube.\u201d (Indeed, that\u2019s how we were able embed it at the conclusion of this article.) The company further stated, \u201cWhen submitted as an ad, it was briefly restricted by our system. After review, the ad has been approved for airing.\u201d<\/p>\n

X\u2019s refusal comes as no surprise \u2014 Musk, who owns the social media site, recently tweeted that \u201cDogshit deserves more respect than Gibney.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube reportedly turned down the ad for its \u201cpolitical content,\u201d which these platforms have various limitations regarding. (Meta announced last year that it would cease accepting political ads in the European Union, while TikTok states it doesn\u2019t run political advertisements at all.) It remains unclear how a documentary trailer qualifies as campaign advertising, and the film\u2019s U.S. distributor Bleecker Street informed the Hollywood Reporter that it has contested the denials.<\/p>\n

Gibney has directed celebrated documentaries such as \u201cGoing Clear\u201d (about the Church of Scientology) and \u201cThe Inventor\u201d (focused on Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos), in addition to a film about Steve Jobs. \u201cMusk,\u201d his most recent work, debuted at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and has garnered nearly universally positive feedback. The film currently holds a 100% \u201cfresh\u201d rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on October 9.<\/p>\n

Vulture\u2019s Bilge Ebiri described the nearly four-hour documentary as an insightful exploration of Musk\u2019s technological journey, his connection with President Donald Trump, and his private life, featuring interviewees including ex-wife Justine Musk and former right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair (who recently had a child with Musk but now refers to him as \u201ca nuke\u201d).<\/p>\n

Ebiri remarked that while the film is a \u201ccaptivating\u201d character study, he added, \u201cAs a narrative of contemporary business, it\u2019s illuminating. And as a cautionary tale about our future, it\u2019s chilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of the initial surge of critical praise, The Hollywood Reporter also mentioned that Universal Pictures was hesitating in its commitment to distribute the film globally, reportedly out of concern of provoking the Trump administration. (Universal later confirmed that it will release the documentary in theaters but is still determining its release strategy).<\/p>\n

TechCrunch has also reached out to TikTok, X, and Bleecker Street for comments.<\/p>\n

This post has been updated to include YouTube\u2019s announcement that it has approved the ad.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When you make a purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not impact our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3491946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3491945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3491945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3491946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3491945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3491945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3491945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}