Hollywood hits delete: Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover sends celebrities to different social media platforms
Sara Bareilles revealed she was leaving Twitter amid Hollywood backlash following Elon Musk's takeover of the social media platform just days before.
"Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out," the Grammy award-winning artist wrote Sunday morning. "See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me."
Bareilles joined a chorus of celebrities leaving Twitter following the SpaceX billionaire finally acquiring the site and becoming CEO after finalizing a $44 billion takeover Thursday.
Bareilles, known for her 2007 debut hit "Love Song" and writing Broadway's adaptation of "Waitress," joined a few power players leaving the site.
The Tesla CEO finally closed his acquisition of Twitter Thursday, and under the agreement, took the company private at $54.20 per share.
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Shonda Rhimes, the creator and writer of "Grey's Anatomy" and its spin-off "Private Practice," tweeted, "Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye."
"This is Us" director and director Ken Olin tweeted, "Hey all, I’m out of here. No judgement. Let’s keep the faith. Let’s protect our democracy. Let’s try to be kinder. Let’s try to save the planet. Let’s try to be more generous. Let’s look to find peace in the world."
Rob Reiner encouraged people to stay on the platform and continue tweeting as November elections loom.
"For those who are fighting to preserve our Constitutional Democracy, now is not the time to leave Twitter," he wrote. "Now is the time to VOTE BLUE!"
"She Hulk" star Jameela Jamil left Twitter in April when Elon began discussing the takeover, only to return again in July after he reportedly pulled out of the deal.
Others begged for Musk to take a look at who he was allowing back on to the site after Ye, previously known as Kanye West, was reinstated on Twitter following controversial statements made on the site.
"Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me," Musk said in a tweet after a user tweeted to him, "So why did you restore already Kanye West's account? Twitter should not be a platform to spew racism and antisemitism."
"Dear Elon Musk. Some free advice from the world’s consigliere. You will be making the biggest mistake of your life if you put Adolf Hitler back on the most effective means of communication in the modern world. The kind of mistake you will never, ever be forgiven for," "Sopranos" actor and E Street Band guitarist "Little Steven" Van Zandt tweeted, seemingly referring to Donald Trump who was banned in January 2021.
Lebron James also shared a few words of wisdom following a report of a dramatic rise in the use of racial slurs on the site.
"I don’t know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns Twitter," he tweeted Saturday. "But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many d--n unfit people saying hate speech is free speech."
Musk said he bought Twitter to "try to help humanity, whom I love," while recognizing that the site "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape."
"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence," Musk tweeted Thursday. "There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society."