Comedians are known for not giving a flying f**k what anyone thinks. It’s one of the things that make many of them so polarizing in the entertainment business. However, I think pretty much everyone can agree that Kathy Griffin’s decision to troll Elon Musk on Twitter by pretending to be him may be one of her most hilarious moves ever. It also got her suspended from the site.
Kathy Griffin is an absolute legend for this one pic.twitter.com/iyXbQ6VVG7
— trevor (@TrevorProMax) November 6, 2022
- Kathy Griffin changed her Twitter’s account name to Elon Musk. While her handle was still her actual name, @kathygriffin, the display name was set to the new Twitter owner’s. Once she made the change, she used her newfound powers to encourage people to #VoteBlue and also sign up for Mastodon, a competing social media network.
- She didn’t exactly say anything bad. “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,” she posted in a tweet that has since been deleted. A pretty good message all in all.
- Not long after posting the tweet, Elon Musk suspended Kathy Griffin’s account. After all, impersonating anyone on the platform is a big no-no, despite him tweaking the blue badge verification rules to make it a whole lot easier. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” he wrote. “Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.”
Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning.
This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
It’s unclear how long Griffin’s Twitter account has been suspended for or whether she will return to the platform once it’s reinstated. Given that celebrities are leaving Twitter in droves after Musk came on board, everyone may be heading elsewhere soon after.
