Kathy Griffin has been suspended from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk
Kathy Griffin is the latest person with a verified Twitter account to be suspended from the platform for impersonating its new owner, Elon Musk.
Vulture reports that the comedian had changed both her name and profile picture to mirror Musk’s, and then proceeded to tweet in support of Democratic nominees in the upcoming US midterm elections. “After much spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right,” she wrote. “They’re also sexy females, btw.” Griffin then added the hashtag #VoteBlueToProtectWomen to the tweet.
A follow-up tweet was then posted, where Griffin wrote: “Hey complainers and activists. Want to see real activism? Watch this.” She then implored her followers to retweet the post in question, using the hashtag #VoteBlue. Griffin also added an emoji of a rocket, alluding to Musk’s SpaceX Starship. Shortly thereafter, Griffin’s account was officially suspended.
View screenshots of Griffin’s account (as captured by Pop Crave) below:
Griffin changed her name and profile picture to Musk’s and encouraged followers to vote for Democratic candidates in this Tuesday’s midterm elections. pic.twitter.com/HzQTSbAvFI
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 7, 2022
Griffin has since logged into the account once used by her late mother Maggie, as she did previously in 2019 when her account was suspended. She retweeted a fan showing support for her, who described Musk as a “poor baby billionaire” who “can’t take a joke”. The tweet used the hashtag #FreeKathy, which Griffin herself would post on Maggie’s account. The hashtag was supported by Star Wars star Mark Hamill. View those tweets below:
Poor baby billionaire Elon can't take a joke and has suspended @kathygriffin's acct #FreeKathy https://t.co/d7tLAkYPJ7
— googoomuck (@googoomuck8) November 6, 2022
— Maggie Griffin (@TipItMaggieG) November 7, 2022
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) November 7, 2022
Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter two weeks ago. Since taking over, he has announced plans to make verified users pay a monthly fee, laid off half its staff and seen “a massive drop in revenue” on the platform. His actions have been criticised by the likes of Kathy Burke (who told Musk to “fuck off”), author Stephen King and Amber Heard, who has deleted her Twitter account.
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