X CEO Linda Yaccarino says GARM antitrust lawsuit aims to fix ‘broken’ ad ecosystem

The bombshell antitrust lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X against a now-defunct advertising cartel and several brands accused of a secret boycott was a critical step toward fixing a “broken” ecosystem, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Post, Yaccarino shed new light on X’s decision to wage a legal “war” against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which abruptly ended days after the social media company filed its lawsuit last week.

The left-leaning nonprofit and other defendants were accused of coordinating a boycott against X that cost the site “billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”

“We were victimized by a small group of people pushing their authority or their ability to monopolize what money is made,” Yaccarino said.

“GARM was just a symptom, but [finding] the root cause of the entire ecosystem being broken, that’s what the lawsuit is about.”

Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, said X’s goal is to bring “sunshine” to the problem and drive a shift toward greater transparency about the data and processes advertisers use to determine where to spend their money.

“It’s about finding out exactly what happened and finding out why or where it was personal bias that became the determining factor for the advertiser’s investment,” Yaccarino said.

X’s lawsuit, filed in Texas federal court, will continue against GARM’s parent — the powerful World Federation of Advertisers, whose members control 90% of global marketing spending.

WFA cited tight-knit nonprofit sources for the decision to close GARM as it fights the antitrust lawsuit.

In addition to GARM and WFA, a handful of major companies—CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever—were named as defendants. X is seeking treble compensatory damages and injunctive relief.

Yaccarino said the lawsuit was filed as a “direct result” of evidence uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee, which accused GARM executive Robert Rakowitz and others of coordinating a campaign to limit advertising in a variety of media and online platforms, including The Post.

The House panel’s report detailed one instance in which Rakowitz boasted that X was “80% below revenue projections” after GARM targeted Musk over brand safety issues. Rakowitz told investigators the email was intended as a joke.

Since then, the House Judiciary Committee has sent letters to more than 40 companies demanding that they provide information and preserve evidence related to any agreements with GARM.

While more legal action is not the company’s goal, X has not ruled out suing other companies if more evidence emerges in the coming days, Yaccarino said.

“I want to make it clear that companies are free to make their own advertising decisions,” she said. “But when a small group of advertisers work together to coordinate a boycott. The law does not allow this.”

Yaccarino insisted that X’s relationship with advertisers remains strong despite the ongoing legal battle, stating that “a lot of people have reached out to me in support” since X announced the move.

The X boss pointed to several recent events that demonstrated the value of the site’s audience, including Musk’s widely watched interview with former President Donald Trump on Monday night and President Biden’s decision to announce his withdrawal from the 2024 election with a tweet.

Upcoming product launches, such as X’s long-awaited payment processor, will also be attractive to advertisers, Yaccarino added.

“X has become something completely different in the last 18 months and has become this must-have platform where users around the world spend more of their time and lives on the platform,” she said.

Yaccarino has navigated a period of intense turmoil since taking over as CEO in mid-2023.

The company’s battle with an exodus of advertisers intensified as Musk overhauled the business and concerns grew that lax content moderation practices had allowed anti-Semitic posts and other harmful content to spread.

Last fall, the situation became so contentious that a group of advertising executives pushed Yaccarino to resign during a Nov. 18 conference call, according to multiple reports. Yaccarino confirmed that the incident had occurred.

Despite the turmoil, Yaccarino said she is committed to X “more than ever” and excited about the company’s product line.

“I’m exactly where I need to be,” she said. “And X stands at the epicenter of culture, and I’m here to drive business results for people.”