NBCUniversal took a blatant dig at Elon Musk’s Twitter on Monday — just days after the social media company poached NBCU’s longtime ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino to serve as its next CEO.
The lighthearted jab took place during the introduction of NBCU’s pre-presentation to key advertisers.
The event kicked off with a musical skit featuring Seth MacFarlane’s raunchy cartoon bear “Ted,” who is about to appear in a series for NBC’s streaming service Peacock.
“Television is the true way. Who needs all those Instagram ads? Twitter may seem like the place to start, but Twitter just lets all the crazies back in,” Ted joked during the segment, according to Axios media reporter Kerry Flynn.
The line “drew plenty of laughter into the room due to the coincidental fact that NBCU’s Linda Yaccarino has just left the company to become CEO of the social media platform,” according to Variety.
The Post has reached out to NBCU representatives for comment.
Musk confirmed last Friday that he had hired Yaccarino to replace him as Twitter’s next CEO.
The abrupt announcement seemed to come as a surprise to NBCU — with a spokesperson stating just a day earlier that Yaccarino was in “back-to-back rehearsals for Monday’s run.” Yaccarino had spent more than a decade in various roles at NBCU.
As CEO of Twitter, Yaccarino will be tasked with rebuilding Twitter’s relationships with large corporate advertisers — many of whom fled the platform over concerns over Musk’s overhaul of account verification and light approach to content moderation.
Critics criticized Musk for his decision to undo the permanent ban on many accounts, including one of former President Donald Trump.
“I have long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this company together!” Yaccarino tweeted on Saturday.
Mark Lazarus, NBCU’s president of television and streaming, later took the stage and thanked Yaccarino for her accomplishments with the company.
“In all seriousness, Linda and I have worked together here at NBC for many, many years,” Lazarus said.
Lazarus praised Yaccarino “for her many contributions and for building an excellent team here.”
“We want to thank her and wish her well,” he added.
