Twitter Suspends Kathy Griffin After She Changed Her Handle to ‘Elon Musk’
Twitter suspended Kathy Griffin Sunday after she changed her handle to “Elon Musk” alongside a slew of celebrities who edited their display names in protest of the new Twitter boss.
The comedian’s account was suspended after she changed her display name and photo to mimic the Twitter owner, after which she flaunted her account’s new look by urging users to #VoteBlue and check out Twitter competitor, Mastodon.
“After much spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right. (They’re also sexy females, btw.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen,” Griffin tweeted.
Musk must have gotten wind of the online protest and put a new Twitter policy in place, which put Griffin smack in the middle of the drama. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” he announced.
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Musk also upped the ante by notifying users Sunday that, unlike beforehand, accounts will not receive a warning before they are suspended and that any name change at all will cause a temporary loss of the verified blue check for those that subscribe to the new Twitter Blue service.
Though Griffin’s account says it is “suspended,” it is unknown if the Emmy winner is permanently banned or if the new policy will take effect following Griffin’s suspension, as Musk suggested.
Former NFL player and author Chris Kluwe earned a suspension after changing his display name to “Elon Musk” and tweeted memes about the new ownership.
The communications team for Twitter did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Though “One Day at a Time” actress Valerie Bertinelli and “Roswell” star Brendan Fehr also participated in the trend, it appears they avoided suspension by changing back their names in a timely manner.
“We are no longer all Elon Musk… … cause he locked those accounts,” Fehr wrote Sunday. “But don’t worry, he’s still perfectly fine with anyone tweeting lies and irresponsible conspiracies so all’s good and makes sense.”
Bertinelli also switched back her profile Sunday morning, tweeting “Okey-dokey I’ve had my fun and I think I made my point. I’m just not a ‘trending’ kind of gal. Never have been, never want to be.”
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