A new documentary examines Musk’s attempts to control online speech. Now major platforms won’t even run its ad

Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk is scheduled to open in U.S. theaters on Oct. 9 through Bleecker Street. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the distributor has been unable to buy paid placement for the film’s trailer on several major social platforms.

YouTube, TikTok, and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram services have all declined the trailer ads, the report said. X has not accepted the advertising either and has not taken Bleecker Street’s calls about the title, according to the same account.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a person familiar with Bleecker Street’s internal process, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the refusals from the platforms other than X came as a surprise and that the company has been trying to learn why the ads were turned down.

Trailer ads were declined under political content policies

YouTube, TikTok, and Meta supplied a reason tied to “political content.” TikTok and Meta, by policy, do not allow campaign ads or other political ads. Meta’s approach was described as stemming largely from fallout after the Cambridge Analytica scandal during the 2016 election.

The trailer was released on Thursday. It includes a shot of a political rally from 2024 and a reference to the 2024 election at the end. The Hollywood Reporter report said those moments do not appear to fall into the campaign-ad category; those platform rules were written to stop.

YouTube’s rejection was described as less clear. That service does allow campaign ads when they include “paid for” disclosures from vetted candidates, the article said.

Bleecker Street has filed appeals with YouTube, TikTok, and Meta. Meta has already rejected the appeal. TikTok and YouTube were still reviewing the requests when the report was published. X has refused to engage on Musk and has also declined ads for other Bleecker Street films on the distributor’s upcoming slate, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Press representatives for Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and X did not immediately comment, the report said. A Bleecker Street representative confirmed that the ads were initially rejected and said the company is still appealing to the three platforms besides X.

Social reach is especially important for a documentary, which depends more on word of mouth than a big-budget studio movie typically does. The documentary’s visibility struggle contrasts with how Musk’s platform has promoted other films, such as when he posted about Armie Hammer’s Citizen Vigilante.

Universal, which is handling the film overseas, had considered stepping away from distribution before saying it is standing by Musk after public pressure. No further details were provided.

Sony is set to release Aaron Sorkin’s Mark Zuckerberg drama The Social Reckoning next month. That film’s trailer was available on YouTube at the time of the report. It was not clear whether X’s ad team had spoken with counterparts at the other companies.