--- title: "Twitter CEO Says That Due to Reasons, She Has to Cancel Appearance Defending Elon Musk’s Deranged Behavior" description: "X-formerly-Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino's speaking tour is on pause for the foreseeable future following her disastrous Code interview." date: "2023-10-11" modified: "2023-10-11" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/twitter-ceo-cancel-appearance-elon-musk" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "social media" - "twitter" --- # Twitter CEO Says That Due to Reasons, She Has to Cancel Appearance Defending Elon Musk’s Deranged Behavior ![X-formerly-Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino's speaking tour is on pause for the foreseeable future following her disastrous Code interview.]() *\Image: Isaac Brekken/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images/Futurism\* Looks like X-formerly-Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino's speaking tour is on pause for the foreseeable future. Yaccarino announced that she has bowed out of her scheduled appearance at *The Wall Street Journal'*s Tech Live conference, slated to kick off next week. According to X, she's busy. "With the global crisis unfolding, Linda and her team must remain fully focused on X platform safety," reads X's official statement [shared]() by *WSJ* tech columnist Joanna Stern, likely referring to the situation in Israel and Gaza. But considering Yaccarino's [disastrous appearance]() at a conference last month and X owner Elon Musk's [continuing promotion]() of notorious, misinformation-peddling accounts on the platform, there's clearly a lot more behind her decision. Late last month, Yaccarino sat down with *CNBC's* Julia Boorstin at Code, *The Verge's* annual tech and business conference. The bizarre interview was nothing short of a trainwreck. Among other odd claims and confrontational behavior, [as recapped by *The Verge*](), Yaccarino made sweeping statements about X's user figures without actually providing any hard numbers to back them up. She also said Boorstin was "not nice" in response to an [arguably fair]() question concerning Yaccarino's reputation as "[CEO in name only]()," and downplayed online threats directed at Yoel Roth, Twitter's former head of trust and safety who was [forced to leave his home]() after being accused of pedophilia by Musk. On that note, throughout the conversation, Yaccarino oscillated between defending and [clumsily attempting to side-step]() questions regarding the behavior of the platform's mercurial owner, who — despite having passed on the CEO role to the #girlboss in question — continues to announce [surprise site changes]() and [product rollouts]() in X posts and [threatening to sue nonprofits]() like the Anti-Defamation League for calling attention to antisemitism on the platform. To be clear, focusing on the violent crisis in Israel and Gaza would be a worthy way for Yaccarino to spend her time, considering that X has been [flooded with disinformation]() pertaining to the bloody conflict and, as the result of Musk's mass workforce cullings, seemingly no longer has the trust and safety staff required to manage content related to these kinds of global events. It also doesn't help that in a now-deleted post on the platform, Musk, told users over the weekend that two notorious accounts that promote lies and unverifiable news are a good way to follow "the war in real-time," [per *The Washington Post*](). So, yeah, Yaccarino has a lot on her hands. Still, it's hard to believe that her decision to cancel her Tech Live appearance has *nothing* to do with her most recent onstage performance. At the same time, when it comes to having to stand up for Musk's actions and confront his questionable behavior, we wouldn't want to publicly answer any questions, either. **More on Twitter:** [*Elon Musk Baffled about Why People Would Want to See Headline Before Clicking Article*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()