Whoopi Goldberg to Gigi Hadid, celebrities exit Twitter after Musk's takeover

Call it the Elon Musk effect, but many celebrities are deleting their Twitter accounts and making a grand exit. After tech behemoth Elon Musk finally took over the world’s 15th most popular social media platform in a $44 billion takeover two weeks ago, many celebrities are pointedly checking out uncomfortable and unhappy with the maverick owner’s actions.

Shortly after the business magnate took over Twitter, the acquisition was marked by the announcement of a $8 verification fee for accounts and an access to a blue tick, massive layoff exercise which has cut the Twitter workforce by 50 per cent, anti-Semitic rant, and hate speech. All of this has stirred up a lot of controversy.

Also read: Elon Musk family: 3 marriages, 10 children, and why his mom sleeps in garage

The Stop Hate for Profit coalition, a group that also includes the Anti Defamation League met with Twitter’s maverick owner earlier this week to express their profound concerns about some of his plans and the spike in toxic content after his acquisition “Since that time, hate and disinformation have proliferated, and he has taken actions that make us fear that the worst is yet to come,” the group said in a statement, according to reports in the international media.

Many celebrities are expressing their disapproval of these developments by checking out of Twitter.

Also read: Amber Heard deletes Twitter account after ex Elon Musk takes over

Gigi Hadid

The stunning 27-year-old supermodel Gigi Hadid took to Instagram to inform her 76.2 million Instagram followers that she would be deactivating her account because of its “new leadership”. She called Twitter  a “cesspool of hate and bigotry.” Hadid apologised to her fans for leaving Twitter stating that she had loved connecting with for a decade via Twitter “but I can’t say it’s a safe place for anyone – nor a social platform that will do more good than harm.” Her Instagram story on exiting Twitter, however, has since expired.

Whoopi Goldberg

The 66-year-old television show host Whoopi Goldberg too quit the microblogging website. She made this announcement in her ABC show ‘The View’. According to this Hollywood celebrity, Twitter had become so ‘messy’ but she would come back if everything settles and she feels comfortable. As of tonight, she’s done with Twitter.

.@WhoopiGoldberg says on #TheView that “as of tonight,” she’s “done with Twitter.”

“I’m going to get out, and if it settles down and I feel more comfortable, maybe I’ll come back.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/0Ih9fp9yHG

— The View (@TheView) November 7, 2022

Amber Heard

American actor, and Elon Musk’s ex-girlfriend, Amber Heard, too deleted her account just a week after Musk’s takeover. The two had dated briefly between 2017 and 2018, and Musk’s name had cropped up in the highly publicised defamation trial between Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp. Even as Heard has not shared a statement on why she left Twitter, her Facebook and Instagram accounts are still active.

Toni Braxton and Jameela Jamil

Shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech’ she has seen on this platform since its acquisition”, the 55-year-old R&B singer Braxton, one of the best-selling female artists in history, tweeted one last time before deleting her account entirely. “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”, she tweeted.

Also read: Takeover by Elon Musk: Twitter starts laying off staff in India; to seal offices

Jameela Jamil, The Good Place actress, 36, too dropped out of the platform saying, “Ah, he got twitter. I would like this to be my what lies here as my last tweet.” Further, she added that she fears this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny. “Best of luck.”

Sara Bareilles
The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter tweeted to her nearly 3 million followers: “Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on the other platforms, peeps.” And she added,  “Sorry, this one’s just not for me.” Her post was accompanied with heart and prayer-hands emojis.

Erik Larsen
Larsen, a comic book creator and artist best known for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” reportedly tweeted in April that “the day Elon Musk buys Twitter is the day I delete my account and leave Twitter.” And, recently, his last tweet said, “Yeah, I left. I said I would leave if Musk bought Twitter. Musk bought Twitter. And, he added that he had no choice.

Also read: Zip2 to Tesla to Twitter, how Elon Musk built his business empire

“The move (Musk buying Twitter) only emboldened those most toxic users. The racists, ‘patriots’ and creeps are back in full force,” he said, adding that he has no regrets.

Shonda Rhimes

Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) October 29, 2022

Screenwriter and producer Shonda Rhimes, best known for her popular shows like Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, The Scandal, bid goodbye to the platform with a tweet, “Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye”.. Her tweet has since received 47,000 likes.

Many celebrities also pointed out that if Twitter returns to being a public company run by rational actors, many of them will return.

Musk lashes out

Meanwhile, Musk lashed out at users complaining about Twitter’s new updates and asked them to join rival platform “Masterbatedone” if they have a problem. This message has been deleted now. However, Musk’s biggest challenge is not that celebrities are making a point logging out of his platform, it is about advertisers fleeing the site even if there’s a growth in the user base. They fear that misinformation may increase on the platform due to the US midterm polls, and their ads may end up next to a problematic article or tweet.