X appoints Nick Pickles to lead global communications

X has expanded the role of global government affairs head Nick Pickles to include directing global communications, the Financial Times reported. 

Pickles is picking up the communications responsibilities from Joe Benarroch, who was fired by CEO Linda Yaccarino this month, according to the FT. Benarroch, X’s head of business operations, joined the company last June and acted as an X spokesperson. 

Yaccarino’s decision to reconfigure her management team comes as she faces pressure from X owner Elon Musk to boost sales and cut costs, according to the Financial Times.

Pickles has worked at the social media network since 2014, when it was called Twitter. He joined the company as U.K. senior public policy manager and was promoted several times before stepping into his role in 2022 as head of global government affairs.

Pickles ran for parliament in 2010 as a Conservative Party candidate. Between 2011 and 2014, he was director of civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch.

Pickles was not available for comment.

Musk decimated the comms team at X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after buying the social network for $44 billion in October 2022. Before Benarroch joined X, one of the company’s last comms staffers after Musk eliminated nearly all of the department was Rebecca Hahn. She left her role as the social media network’s VP of global communications in January 2023 to join Tools for Humanity as chief communications officer.

In March 2023, [email protected] was set up to respond to queries with an automated reply that included nothing but a poop emoji. Now, when [email protected] is emailed for comment, it replies with, “Busy now, please check back later.”

Last week, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WPP chief executive Mark Read asked Musk about comments he made last November when he told advertisers to “go fuck yourselves.” Musk stood by his comments, insisting he will “choose free speech rather than agreeing to be censored for money.”