By Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas tasked with hearing a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against a group of advertisers has recused himself from the case following reports that he owned shares in another Musk company, Tesla.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, did not give a reason in his one-paragraph motion to dismiss Tuesday.
The suit, 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 union 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 Friday that O’Connor owned Tesla stock, raising questions about whether he should be overseeing litigation involving Musk’s company.
A 2022 legal financial disclosure report, the most recent 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 leading another lawsuit that X filed last year, accusing media watchdog Media Matters of interfering with X’s relationships with advertisers. Media Matters has denied 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 popular destination for conservatives suing to block the policies of the Democratic Biden administration.
One of O’Connor’s colleagues, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas, was assigned Tuesday to hear X’s advertising boycott case.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Richard Chang)