Jameela Jamil, Rob Reiner, more stars react
Elon Musk has reached an agreement to buy Twitter, and of course Hollywood has some thoughts.
The social media giant confirmed Monday the Tesla CEO and billionaire will acquire the company in a deal worth $44 billion. Once the deal is complete, which is expected by this year, Twitter will become a privately held company.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk tweeted to his 84 million followers. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”
See what celebrities are saying about the deal.
Elon Musk buying Twitter:Twitter users react to the deal
Jameela Jamil leaves Twitter, Rob Reiner worries about Trump return
Actress Jameela Jamil, known for being outspoken about issues on mental health, body image and online harassment, wrote Monday that she had posted her “last tweet” after learning Musk had acquired the social media site.
“Ah he got twitter. I would like this to be my what lies here as my last tweet,” the “Good Place” actress wrote. “I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny. Best of luck.”
She wasn’t the only one concerned about the controversial billionaire taking over the social media platform.
Director Rob Reiner shared concerns about former President Donald Trump potentially returning to the app under new management after he was permanently banned from Twitter in the days following the Jan. 6 insurrection “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Trump said Monday he would not return to Twitter, even under a new leader.
“Now that Elon Musk is buying Twitter, the question for all of us is: Will he allow a Criminal who used this platform to lie and spread disinformation to try to overthrow the US Government to return and continue his Criminal activity? And if he does, how do we combat it?” Reiner wrote.
Trump on Twitter:Will Elon Musk let Donald Trump back on Twitter? All signs point to yes
Ice-T jokes Musk should just shut Twitter down
Ice-T had another suggestion: “It would kinda dope if Musk bought Twitter and just shut it off…. Lol.”
He later added: “If getting OFF Social Media would RUIN your life… You Truly need to recalibrate your Priorities.. Just sayin.”
Twitter under Elon Musk:Will free speech mean more hate speech on the platform?
Scooter Braun, Simu Liu, more stars weigh in
Music exec Scooter Braun welcomed the billionaire to his new role: “Hi Elon @elonmusk,” he tweeted with a waving emoji.
And some were hopeful Musk’s new role might introduce some updates to the app.
“Free at last! @elonmusk take off my shadow ban homie,” Ice Cube pleaded.
“Will we now get the edit tweet option?” Kevin Jonas joked.
“Ignore the drama, pay attention to this instead,” Ellie Goulding offered, quote-tweeting a post about climate change.
“Was there nothing better to do with 44 billion dollars?” Marvel star Simu Liu wondered.
“Welp. What now,” Questlove posted Monday afternoon, envisioning a potential post-internet lifestyle. “Hmmm maybe this means this starts a ‘Ahmir actually enjoys life’ like pre 2004 Friendster days…..or even scarier pre 98 Okayplayer days.”
Contributing: Brett Molina and Terry Collins
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