Texas judge in lawsuit by Musk’s X against advertisers exits case

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas assigned to hear a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against a group of advertisers has removed himself from the case following reports that he owned shares of another Musk company, Tesla.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas did not give a reason in his one-paragraph recusal filing on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed by X last week, accused the World Federation of Advertisers and others of conspiring to boycott the platform, causing it to lose revenue. The federation has not responded in court and declined to comment on Tuesday.

O’Connor’s office and spokespeople for X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NPR reported on Friday that O’Connor owned Tesla shares, raising questions about whether he should oversee litigation involving Musk’s companies.

A judicial financial disclosure report for 2022, the most recent one available, showed O’Connor owned $15,001 to $50,000 in Tesla stock. Judges sometimes step aside from cases when they have a financial interest in one of the parties.

O’Connor is presiding over another lawsuit X filed last year accusing media watchdog Media Matters of interfering with X’s relationships with advertisers. Media Matters has denied any wrongdoing.

Musk’s case against the World Federation of Advertisers was filed in the Northern District of Texas and assigned to O’Connor, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush. The district has become a favored destination for conservatives suing to block policies of the Democratic Biden administration.

One of O’Connor’s colleagues, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas, was assigned on Tuesday to hear X’s advertising boycott case.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Richard Chang)