In a stunning display of corporate conviction, Meta has announced it will run ads for Alex Gibney's upcoming Elon Musk documentary after initially refusing them, because nothing says "we stand by our decisions" like reversing them within 24 hours.

The Hollywood Reporter published a story Friday saying that TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X had all refused to run paid ads promoting the trailer for "Musk." But when TechCrunch reached out to Meta on Saturday, a spokesperson offered the time-honored corporate mea culpa: "This was an error and the ads are being restored."

Ah yes, the classic "error" - that mysterious gremlin that somehow always makes platforms reject controversial ads until someone asks about it. Meta has been asked for more details, presumably including whether the error was typed by a human or generated by an AI that's still learning the difference between "political content" and "a movie trailer."

X's rejection is less surprising than a sunrise. Musk, who owns the platform, recently posted that "Dogshit is worth more respect than Gibney." A nuanced film criticism, to be sure - one that really makes you appreciate the rich tradition of owners publicly beefing with documentarians on their own turf.

But Meta, TikTok, and YouTube reportedly rejected the ad for "political content," which the platforms have various restrictions on. Meta said last year it will stop accepting political ads in the European Union, while TikTok says it doesn't run them at all. It's not clear how a documentary trailer counts as campaign advertising, unless the documentary is somehow a dark money Super PAC. The film's U.S. distributor, Bleecker Street, told The Hollywood Reporter it's appealing the rejections - presumably with a strongly worded letter explaining that "documentary" and "campaign ad" are different words.

Gibney has directed acclaimed documentaries including "Going Clear" (about the Church of Scientology) and "The Inventor" (about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos), as well as a movie about Steve Jobs. "Musk," his latest, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and has received almost universally positive reviews. It currently has a 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is set for theatrical release in the United States on October 9.

Vulture's Bilge Ebiri described the nearly four-hour documentary as a revealing look at Musk's tech career, his alliance with President Donald Trump, and his personal life, with interview subjects including ex-wife Justine Musk and former right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair (who recently had a child with Musk but now describes him as "a nuke"). Ebiri wrote that while the film is a "fascinating" character study, "As a tale of modern business, it's revealing. And as a warning about our future, it's terrifying."

Despite the initial wave of critical acclaim, The Hollywood Reporter also said that Universal Pictures was wavering in its commitment to distribute the film internationally, reportedly due to the studio's fear of angering the Trump administration. Universal subsequently said it will release the documentary in theaters but is still figuring out its release strategy - which is corporate-speak for "we're checking with our lawyers, our shareholders, and possibly a Magic 8-Ball."

TechCrunch has also reached out to YouTube, TikTok, X, and Bleecker Street for comment, presumably to ask if they too would like to discover a sudden "error" in their ad policies.