NBC takes a swipe at Twitter after Elon Musk hired away a top exec: They ‘just let all the crazies back in.’

• NBCUniversal took a dig at Twitter on Monday, saying the platform “just let all the crazies back in.”
• Last week, Linda Yaccarino resigned as NBCU’s ad chief to join Twitter as CEO, to replace Elon Musk.
• NBCUniversal told Insider the timing of the remark after Yaccarino’s exit was “a total coincidence.”

NBCUniversal took a swipe at Twitter on Monday — just days after NBCU’s top ad chief resigned to join Elon Musk’s social media platform.

At an event where the network previews its upcoming programming to attract advertisers — called an “upfront” — NBC rolled out the teddy bear named Ted from the 2012 comedy of the same name.

As part of his opening remarks, Ted said: “TV is the true way. Who needs all those Instagram ads? Twitter may seem like the place to begin, but Twitter just let all the crazies back in,” according to Axios media reporter Kerry Flynn, who reported from the event.

The line was met with laughs from the audience, according to Variety. They come after a recent high-level executive departure from NBCU. Its ad chief, Linda Yaccarino, who’d been at the company for nearly 12 years, resigned last week to join Twitter. She’s replacing Elon Musk as CEO.

NBCUniversal told Insider the timing of the remarks with Yaccarino’s departure was “a total coincidence.”

“The video was produced long before the news about Linda was known,” the company said.

Twitter responded to Insider’s request for comment with an automated reply that did not address the inquiry.