Alex Gibney's four-hour "Musk" documentary opens in US theaters this weekend, and TikTok says the film's promotional account was "permanently suspended" in error and has been restored, per Deadline. Last month five platforms rejected the trailer's paid ads over "political" content, and Meta quietly reversed and called that an error, too.
The word of the week in Hollywood is "error." Meta said error in September when it walked back the trailer rejection. TikTok said error when it un-banned the doc's account two days before the film starts making money. The word is about to get its own awards category: Best Walk-Back, second year running.
Timing is the whole story. The suspension landed Friday, two days before the premiere weekend, the exact moment the ad account matters. Bleecker Street expressed "disappointment" about the timing, which is a company saying the universe picked the worst day for our lawsuit.
The ownership chart is the part that should make your head spin. Larry Ellison, a Musk ally who has invested in both Tesla and X, is a part-owner of TikTok. The film's promo account was suspended by a platform partially owned by its subject's own best friend, and then restored. The doc bills itself as a definitive, unvarnished look at the man, and the platforms keep proving the thesis for free.
Producer Nick Shumaker has a name for the platforms' First Amendment: the "Half Amendment." Free speech for you, until the subject is the guy who owns the other platform. The doc is in theaters now, and the concessions stand answers to no one.
YOUR TURN: Is "error" the most expensive word in Hollywood, or are we still waiting for the subpoena?
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