X-Rays from V723 Mon are due to Optical Loading in Swift XRT

V723 Mon was recently reported to be hosting the nearest (d = 460 pc) candidate black hole by Jayasinghe et al. An X-ray detection was claimed based on deep Swift XRT observations with a luminosity of L_X ≈ 8 × 10²⁹ erg s^-1 or L_X/L_Edd ≈ 10^-9. Here we show that the X-ray photons detected by Swift XRT are due to optical loading from the bright (V = 8.3 mag) star. Using events in the 2-10 keV energy band, where optical loading does not strongly contribute, we find a 3σ upper-limit on the unabsorbed 2-10 keV X-ray flux of F_X < 2.8 × 10^-14 erg cm^-2 s^-1, corresponding to a luminosity L_X < 7.2 × 10²⁹ erg s^-1 at a distance of 460 pc or L_X/L_Edd ≲ 2 × 10^-9 for a M ≈ 3M_⊙ black hole.