Kathy Griffin blames Elon Musk for rise in hate on Twitter, says it feels like 'Hitler 2.0'
Kathy Griffin wasn't that upset when Elon Musk suspended her from Twitter as she believes the platform was getting too hateful since his takeover. The comedian wrote a piece for Newsweek and said she feels like "we're living in an invasion of the body snatchers" right now amid the rise of antisemitism in this "Hitler 2.0" era.
"I was planning to leave Twitter after the midterms because it had just gotten too 'Musk-y,'" Griffin explained.
"Then, on November 6, Elon Musk suspended me from Twitter for impersonating him ― I changed my account name to Elon Musk and tweeted pro-choice comments and '#VoteBlueToProtectWomen.' Enough people clearly thought it was real," she continued.
Musk mocked Griffin amid the drama and said she was "suspended for impersonating a comedian."
"He then tweeted a 'joke' about me, before deciding on November 18 that he would reinstate me with, wait for it, Jordan Peterson and Babylon Bee. He even name-checked Donald Trump in the same tweet," Griffin continued.
The Babylon Bee is a conservative satirical website that was kicked off the platform in March for a transphobic tweet about U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine. Peterson, a controversial psychologist and author, was previously banned. In the same message, Musk announced a decision had not yet been made about Trump, but he later announced the former president can return to Twitter.
"Musk misspelled my name, on purpose I guess. That doesn't bother me, but please, Elon, don't put my name in the company of white supremacists like Trump," Griffin wrote in the op-ed.
The former My Life on the D-List star said she has been trying out different social media apps like Post and TikTok in recent weeks.
"I was shamefully addicted to Twitter, it was hard for me not to keep checking it. But I do feel saddened, because whatever this 'Hitler 2.0' situation that I feel here we're dealing with, it's so pervasive," she added.
"One of the reasons I stayed on Twitter is that I know a lot of the folks followed me for the fun pop culture stuff. So I couldn't help but throw in, 'Let's see if we can vote for Stacey Abrams, my friends in Georgia,'" Griffin continued. "But I do feel like we're living in an invasion of the body snatchers over here. It's nuts."
Griffin went on to say she's been disheartened by how female friends and #MeToo figures, Amber Heard, Monica Lewinsky and Mia Farrow, have been treated online... although Musk's Twitter takeover can't be blamed in those instances. The comedian believes "there was so much misunderstanding around their situations."
"I don't love that nobody really ever apologized to Mia. People kind of apologized to Monica. But Amber is a friend of mine and I very, very much believe her," Griffin wrote. "What I saw with that situation made me feel so discouraged."
Musk hasn't responded to Griffin's op-ed.
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