Comedienne Kathy Griffin suspended from Twitter after impersonating Elon Musk
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Kathy Griffin turned to using her late mother's Twitter account after her own was banned.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – Comedienne Kathy Griffin’s verified Twitter account, which has two million followers, has been suspended after she changed her username to Elon Musk.
Similarly, other blue-ticked accounts with millions of followers have been suspended as the platform’s users test the new owner’s commitment to free speech he does not like.
Musk, 51, who has previously described himself as a “free speech absolutist”, tweeted on Sunday that “any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended”.
The Twitter account for h3h3Productions, which also changed its user name to Elon Musk, was also banned, despite labelling itself a parody.
User @jephjacques changed its display name to Elon Musk and posted a series of satirical tweets referencing Musk’s hands-on approach to his new company, including: “Look, can everyone just stop tweeting for a second? It’s too fast for me to moderate by myself.”
The account, which has more than 80,000 followers, was suspended a short time later.
Compounding the impression that he was personally involved in the decisions to ban accounts that target him, Musk responded to a tweet announcing Griffin’s suspension from the service.
“Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian,” he quipped, prompting a response apparently from Griffin, who said she was now using the account of her late mother, Maggie Griffin, who died in 2020.
“I mean... you stole that joke, you a*****e,” @TipItMaggieG – whose username was also Elon Musk – tweeted. “People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack. Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something.”
Other users, including Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, joined the fray, with the hashtag #FreeKathy.
Since completing his US$44 billion (S$61.8 billion) takeover of the social media company, Musk has publicly mused about how to make it profitable.
Actions so far have included firing half the firm’s global workforce,
Musk later tweeted: “If she really wants her account back, she can have it.” He added in a follow-up tweet: “For $8.”
Griffin, 62, doubled down with tweets from her mother’s account, writing on Monday: “Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world... You’re a d*****bag. This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed-wine-loving mother saying, ‘I’m gonna get tipsy and throw my bingo cards at you.’ Not a parody.” AFP
