TikTok restores ad account for Alex Gibney's 'Musk' documentary after suspension it calls an error

TikTok has permanently suspended the advertising account for “Musk”, director Alex Gibney’s documentary about Elon Musk, citing repeated violations of its political content policies, The Hollywood Reporter reported at the weekend.

Distributor Bleecker Street was told on Friday afternoon (US time) that a “permanent suspension” was coming for any ads it tried to buy, and it was unable to buy them shortly afterwards, according to the report. A message from TikTok cited a “level of severity with political-policy violations” but did not specify which posts broke its rules, The Hollywood Reporter said.

A Bleecker Street spokesperson confirmed the suspension, expressed “disappointment” at the timing and said the company was appealing. TikTok did not comment to The Hollywood Reporter and did not immediately respond to The Verge.

The suspension came as the film expanded to more than 470 screens across North America, after taking $US70,000 from four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles in its first weekend. The film covers Musk’s companies, his acquisition of Twitter and his political activities.

The Verge reported that last month YouTube, Meta, X and TikTok faced criticism for rejecting ads for the film. YouTube and Google reversed course, calling it an error, while TikTok and X have not allowed paid ads for the film, according to The Verge.

Update, 10:09pm GMT Sunday: TikTok has restored the advertising account. “I can confirm that the advertising account has been restored after an error,” TikTok US spokesperson Mahsau Cullinane told The Verge on Sunday (US time), describing the error as technical. A source close to the production confirmed the restoration to Deadline.

“Musk” took an estimated $US306,702 from 472 cinemas in North America this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.