The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court, targets the World Federation of Advertisers and big names like Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Orsted. Musk's camp alleges that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, an initiative by the advertising group, orchestrated a halt in advertising following Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022.

Musk took to X to declare "now it is war" after what he described as two years of fruitless diplomacy. X CEO Linda Yaccarino chimed in, citing evidence from the US House Judiciary Committee that purportedly shows a "systematic illegal boycott" against X.

The lawsuit harks back to the early days of Musk's takeover, not the more recent advertiser exodus in November 2023. Back then, advertisers fled over fears their ads would appear next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech, with Musk himself stoking the flames by endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Musk's response was to accuse his advertisers of blackmail and telling them to go forth and multiply.

The World Federation of Advertisers and the companies named in the lawsuit have yet to comment. However, Unilever's top brass defended their advertising choices at a recent congressional hearing, asserting their right to place ads where they see fit.

One has to question the sanity of suing customers for deciding not to buy your product. It only discourages new customers from signing up as they will fear being sued if they decide in the future to leave.