TikTok bans Musk film account

The decision comes as Alex Gibney's documentary expands to 470 theaters nationwide.

By Jarrod Jones | October 17, 2026 | 1:31pm

Photo: Bleecker Street

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Bleecker Street, the film distributor overseeing the theatrical release of Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk, was informed that a “permanent suspension” of the film’s TikTok account was imminent as the film expands to more than 470 screens across North America. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Bleecker Street spokesperson confirmed that the social media platform reached out before the page’s removal and that the company is “in the process” of appealing the decision. THR notes that the move comes during a crucial weekend for the film’s distribution and that even if Bleecker Street can successfully reinstate the documentary’s page on TikTok, the film will have already lost valuable exposure. (Bleecker Street had intended to spend part of its marketing budget on boosting posts on the platform.) The distributor is certainly no stranger to social media acting weird about Musk: Elon Musk refuses to run ads for the film on X, and Meta and YouTube reversed their decision not to publish Musk spots in September.

The Musk page’s “political content” reportedly violated the platform’s policies, though exactly how remains unclear. (TikTok representatives didn’t respond to THR‘s request for comment.) Prior to its suspension, the account, which had over 10,000 followers, posted an ad offering audience activities during the film’s intermission, such as deleting their X accounts, discussing “a fascist hellscape,” and switching seats “if they are too far to the right.” Another post encouraged viewers to catch the four-hour documentary in theaters “before it gets shut down,” which is pretty funny in a morbid Onion sort of way. THR also stresses that TikTok has “no official affiliation” with Elon Musk, but notes that Larry Ellison, whose company Oracle holds a 15% stake in a joint venture operating TikTok’s U.S. business, appears in Gibney’s film in a text exchange offering financial support for Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022. However, this is not evidence that Ellison had anything to do with the suspension.

Oddly enough, Musk will eventually reach viewers under the corporate umbrella of Larry Ellison’s son, as the film is set to premiere in 2027 on HBO, courtesy of David Ellison, whose company Skydance is the very happy owner of Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO’s parent company.

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