Model Gigi Hadid has become the latest celebrity to deactivate her Twitter account after Elon Musk took over the company and began making immediate changes.
On Instagram, Hadid posted a story explaining she had deactivated her Twitter account because for a long time and “especially with its new leadership, it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry,” according to screenshots of the story, which has expired.
The 27-year-old said Twitter is not a place she wants to be a part of even though she connected with many fans on the social media platform. “But I can’t say it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm,” she wrote.
On her story, she also shared a post from MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin, who shared a tweet from a former Twitter employee claiming that the “entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company.”
Musk began the acquisition process in April and when he officially took over the company last month, he immediately made plans to fire at least half of Twitter’s employees. Last week, the layoffs began, with the company saying in an email to its employees that job reductions were “necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”
Musk also promised to change the platform’s current content moderation and bans. Many fear the changes will allow hate speech and inappropriate content on the platform, and as a result, several other celebrities and high-profile people have vowed to leave.
Shonda Rhimes, Toni Braxton, Sara Bareilles and Tea Leoni are among the high-profile people who have ditched Twitter following Musk’s acquisition of the company.
Braxton said she was appalled by the changes she saw after Musk acquired the company and vowed to stay off of it. “I’m shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech’ I’ve seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of ‘free speech’ is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC,” she wrote.
“Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye,” screenwriter and producer Rhimes tweeted two days after Musk officially bought the company. She hasn’t tweeted since.
