X (formerly Twitter) has dismissed Unilever from its ongoing lawsuit against advertisers which accuses several brands of conducting an “illegal boycott” of its business.
Per a court filing, X has dropped Unilever’s name from legal proceedings initiated in August. The document states X will still pursue those named in the original suit, which included ad trade body World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and its now disbanded subsidiary the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), along with brands CVS, Mars, and energy firm Ørsted.
Dove and Hellmann’s owner Unilever confirmed to ADWEEK that an agreement had been made, with a spokesperson adding that X had “committed to meeting our responsibility standards to ensure the safety and performance of our brands on the platform.” The CPG declined to comment further on the terms of the agreement.
ADWEEK has contacted Mars, CVS, Mars, and Ørsted for comment. At the time of writing, they had not replied. The WFA declined to comment story due to legal reasons.
The Elon Musk-owned platform stated Friday it had settled with Unilever to “continue [its] partnership on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry,” hinting that the reconciliation was part of a bigger conversation with advertisers.
X’s settlement with Unilever follows the appointment of former Hyundai marketer Angela Zepeda as chief marketing officer (CMO) in September. She is the first to take on the role since Musk’s $44 billion 2022 takeover.
X’s legal war with advertisers
Since Musk took ownership, several household brands, including Unilever, Dinsey, and Apple have been reducing, pausing, or entirely halting advertising on the platform, due to a rise in hate speech and disinformation.
Musk’s free speech agenda has also clashed with brands’ desire to distance themselves from problematic content. Meanwhile, his posts—which have ranged from alleged endorsements of antisemitic conspiracy theories to describing DEI as “another word for racism”—have also given buyers jitters.