Several celebrities are throwing hissy fits over Elon Musk officially acquiring social media platform Twitter.
NBC News reports, several Hollywood stars have fled Twitter after Elon Musk acquired the platform last week.
Musk is a self-confessed “free speech absolutist” who has vowed to make sweeping changes to the platform, so many members of the entertainment industry have said they plan to leave the platform.
“Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes tweeted to her nearly 2 million Twitter followers Saturday afternoon, “Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.”
Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles tweeted to her nearly 3 million followers Sunday, “Welp. It’s been fun, Twitter. I’m out. See you on the other platforms, peeps. “Sorry, this one’s just not for me.”
Grammy-winning R&B star Toni Braxton tweeted, “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 people of color.”
“This is Us” director and director Ken Olin tweeted, “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.”
The actor who played Deanna Troi in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Marina Sirtis, deactivated her account after the Musk takeover, her publicist confirmed.
The actor had vowed to leave in a tweet on Friday, writing: “I’m sorry but I cannot be a part of anything owned by #ELONMUSK and his cabal of deplorable’s. I’ll stay on for a couple of days so that we can say goodbye but after that I’m gone.”
Outkick founder Clay Travis went on FOX News earlier this week and predicted that many of these celebrities will be back on the platform very soon, comparing this situation to the celebrities who vowed to move out of the country when Donald Trump was elected President, but never followed through.
In contrast to Travis’ remarks, many celebrities have seemed to deactivate their accounts, including retired professional wrestler and actor Mick Foley, comic book creator and artist best known for “The Amazing Spider-Man Erik Larsen, comic book artist and illustrator who has worked on projects in “The Simpsons” media universe Bill Morrison, and actor and filmmaker best known for playing Bill in the “Bill & Ted” film series Alex Winter.
However, in anticipation of the November elections, Rob Reiner urged people to remain on the platform and tweet regularly.
“For those who are fighting to preserve our Constitutional Democracy, now is not the time to leave Twitter. Now is the time to VOTE BLUE!” Reiner tweeted.
These celebrities may be horrified at Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, but let’s face it – they’re never really going to leave. They need the attention to feed their egos and they can’t resist engaging with all the other voices on the platform. Plus, they can’t give up all that sweet clout they’ve accumulated over the years. But let them go – more diverse voices will rise to fill their place and Twitter will only benefit from it. So go ahead, Hollywood (or should I say Hollypoop?) – abandon those social media accounts if you must, but don’t be surprised when we see you crawling back in a few months. Toodles!
