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Linda Gets X-Communicated

Linda Yaccarino put a positive spin on her exit from X—but behind the scenes, her relationship with Elon Musk had been unraveling for some time.

Oliver Darcy
Oliver Darcy

Jul 10, 2025

Linda Gets X-Communicated

Linda Yaccarino put a positive spin on her exit from X—but behind the scenes, her relationship with Elon Musk had been unraveling for some time.

Oliver Darcy
Oliver Darcy

Jul 10, 2025

Linda Yaccarino. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Over the past several weeks, Linda Yaccarino had been quietly making the rounds, meeting with some old friends in the media and advertising industry and seeking advice as she weighed her future. She hadn’t yet made her exit from Elon Musk’s toxic X, but the writing was on the wall. Inside the company, some of her current and former colleagues were openly speculating about when she would make it official and depart.

On Wednesday morning, she did just that. Yaccarino, who torched her once-sterling reputation in the advertising world to carry water for Musk as chief executive of X, posted that she had “decided to step down" from the role. She described it as “the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company,” claiming she led a “historic business turnaround” and that the team’s work under her tenure was “nothing short of remarkable.”

It was a clear attempt to cast her exit in a positive light and portray it as entirely her own choice. But the truth, of course, was far messier. Behind the scenes, I’m told…

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