After Elon Musk bought Twitter, a number of famous people have already decided to stop using the social media platform.
The richest person in the world, who is 51 years old, brought a kitchen sink to Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco a week ago as he got closer to finishing his $44 billion purchase of the social network.
The founder of Tesla posted a video of himself walking through the hallways of the building where Twitter is based, with the caption “entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
As soon as the news was confirmed—after it had been rumored for months that Musk would own the platform—a number of famous people and Hollywood stars said they would be closing their Twitter accounts.
Shonda Rhimes, who makes TV shows, and other well-known people in the entertainment business have said that they plan to leave the platform now that Elon Musk, who started SpaceX, owns it. Musk has said that he will make big changes to the platform, which could include letting former President Donald Trump use it again.
“Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye,” Rhimes tweeted to her Twitter followers on Saturday (October 29), two days after Musk closed in on his deal.
Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) October 29, 2022
Sara Bareilles, a singer who has won multiple Grammys, weighed in on the debate and said: “Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me.”
Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me. ❤️🙏🏼
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) October 30, 2022
Toni Braxton sent the following message to the nearly 2 million people who follow her account to tell them she didn’t like the tweets she’s seen on Twitter since the business magnate took over the platform: “I’m shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech’ I’ve seen on this platform since its acquisition.”
“Hate speech under the veil of ‘free speech’ is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons, and other POC,” the Grammy-winning RnB star added.
I'm shocked and appalled at some of the "free speech" I've seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of "free speech" is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC.
— Toni Braxton (@tonibraxton) October 29, 2022
The executive producer of the NBC show This Is Us, Ken Olin, told his 290,000 followers on Twitter that he is “out of here” and asked for peace and kindness.
Hey all –
I’m out of here. No judgement.
Let’s keep the faith.
Let’s protect our democracy.
Let’s try to be kinder.
Let’s try to save the planet.
Let’s try to be more generous.
Let’s look to find peace in the world.
💙— Ken Olin (@kenolin1) October 28, 2022
Mick Foley, a former professional wrestler who is now an actor, said in a post on his Facebook page that he is going to “take a break” from Twitter because “the new ownership and the misinformation and hate seems to be encouraging knots in his stomach.” Foley is talking about the fact that Twitter recently got a new owner.
“I really do enjoy connecting with all of you on social media, but it can get overwhelming sometimes. I think I’ll be back on in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I will continue to post on Facebook and Instagram,” Foley wrote.
“I hope all of you will be kind to one another,” he said, adding, “Please vote if you can too – our democracy seems to be hanging on by a thread.”
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), an organization that studies messages on social media, told the Washington Post that the use of the “n-word” on the app went up by almost 500% in the 12 hours after the billionaire’s deal was done. In response to a question from the Washington Post, this information was given.
LeBron James, an NBA All-Star, also used Twitter to ask Facebook’s new CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to do something about pages that use racial slurs like the “n-word.” In his tweet, James wrote: “I don’t know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns Twitter.”
“But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech,” he added.
Before this, Musk had said in the official statement he released to announce the big deal that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
Still, he explained his previous statements about “free speech” earlier this year by saying that if a user tweeted something that was “illegal or otherwise bad for the world,” a temporary suspension would be enough instead of removing the user permanently. This was one of the things he said. He also said that people shouldn’t be able to see the post.
