By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas assigned to listen to a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against a gaggle of advertisers has removed himself from the case following reports that he owned shares of one other Musk company, Tesla.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Value, Texas didn’t give a reason in his one-paragraph recusal filing on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, 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 federation has not responded in court and declined to comment on Tuesday.

O’Connor’s office and spokespeople for X didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

NPR reported on Friday that O’Connor owned Tesla shares, raising questions on whether he should oversee litigation involving Musk’s corporations.

A judicial financial disclosure report for 2022, probably the most recent one available, showed O’Connor owned $15,001 to $50,000 in Tesla stock. Judges sometimes step other than cases once they have a financial interest in certainly one of the parties.

O’Connor is presiding over one other lawsuit X filed last 12 months accusing media watchdog Media Matters of interfering with X’s relationships with advertisers. Media Matters has denied any wrongdoing.

Musk’s case against the World Federation of Advertisers was filed within the Northern District of Texas and assigned to O’Connor, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush. The district has turn out to be a well-liked destination for conservatives suing to dam policies of the Democratic Biden administration.

One in all O’Connor’s colleagues, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas, was assigned on Tuesday to listen to X’s promoting boycott case.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Richard Chang)