Retail giant Walmart has announced its decision to halt advertising on X, the platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, marking the first major company to distance itself from the controversial platform. This comes after Musk’s recent string of disparaging comments, as reported by Bloomberg.

The decision by Walmart to discontinue its advertising on X is based on a preference for alternative platforms that better connect with its customer base. The retail company now joins the likes of Disney, IBM, and Sony in “abandoning cart” on the X platform.

When asked about the change, a Walmart spokeswoman simply stated, “We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers.” However, she declined to provide details on when the change takes effect or the exact reasoning behind it.

Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations, expressed disappointment over Walmart’s departure but noted that the platform still has a loyal community of over 1 million followers, with most users doing their shopping online.

While Walmart did not explicitly link its decision to Musk’s comments, it falls in line with the growing trend of companies withdrawing their ads from X. This trend gained momentum after Musk publicly expressed agreement with an anti-Semitic tweet over two weeks ago, prompting notable entities like Disney, Sony, and IBM to also abandon the platform.

Interestingly, Walmart’s move away from X coincides with Musk’s recent contentious interview at the DealBook Summit. During the interview, Musk apologized for endorsing the anti-Semitic tweet, admitting it was one of the most foolish things he has done on the platform.

However, this apology came after Musk accused departing advertisers of trying to “blackmail” him with monetary leverage, and he dismissively directed his comments towards Disney and other advertisers who left the platform.

This decision by Walmart adds to the growing challenges faced by X since Musk’s acquisition of the platform, formerly known as Twitter, for a significant $44 billion last year. Advertising is X’s primary revenue stream, and the fallout from Musk’s controversial statements has led to a substantial 60% decrease in U.S. ad revenue, as acknowledged by Musk himself in September.

During the DealBook Summit interview, Musk expressed concerns that an advertiser boycott could potentially “kill the company,” laying the blame for such a scenario on advertisers worldwide.

While Walmart’s stock has experienced a marginal decline of over 1% following the news, the retailer’s overall share price trajectory remains positive, boasting a 7% increase for the year.