Comedian Kathy Griffin found out the hard way that new Twitter chief Elon Musk is serious about suspending those "engaging in impersonating," and now she's taking drastic measures, begging for her account back.
On Sunday, Musk announced failure to abide by the new rule without clearly noting "parody" would result in permanent suspension.
"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," he said, adding that name changes will result in a "temporary loss" of a blue checkmark.
Griffin challenged the new policy by changing her name to Elon Musk, which resulted in the predictable loss of her account and a roast by Musk himself.
Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
He said if she wants her account back, it'll cost her.
For $8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
The comedian then hopped onto her deceased mother's Twitter account to take jabs at Musk and ask for her account back.
I mean… you stole that joke, you asshole. People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack.
— Maggie Griffin (@TipItMaggieG) November 7, 2022
Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something.
This is KG btw
Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world tell u…you’re a douchebag. This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed wine loving mother saying I’m gonna get tipsy & throw my bingo cards at you! NOT A PARODY.
— Maggie Griffin (@TipItMaggieG) November 7, 2022
To the moon, a**hole. #FreeKathy https://t.co/NmIsNzHwVP
— Maggie Griffin (@TipItMaggieG) November 7, 2022
Griffin said, without evidence, that she suspected her suspension had more to do with her calling on Twitter users to vote for Democrats.
"I honestly think it's because it's me, and because the tweets I was trying to write in his voice were pro democrats and had hashtags like #VoteBlueToProtectWomen and #voteblue and pro [Beto O'Rourke]," she claimed.
Others on the progressive left concluded the decision to suspend Griffin was about "fascism."
Twitter suspending accounts for stating biological facts = “That’s just accountability”, “Build your own platform”, “Twitter is a private company and can do what it wants”, etc.
— Andrew Doyle (@andrewdoyle_com) November 7, 2022
Twitter suspending Kathy Griffin for impersonating Elon Musk = “Fascism” pic.twitter.com/3fBLM5KzTL
Musk did chime in on the election on Monday, advising "independent-minded voters" to vote Republican.
"Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic," he said in a pinned tweet.
To independent-minded voters:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic.
