Elon Musk's Twitter takeover prompts Hollywood exodus
The 'Fox & Friends' co-hosts discuss the celebrity reaction to Musk's takeover and what's to come as he pushes to restore free speech on the platform.
Elton John announced Friday he was leaving Twitter over fears "misinformation" would "flourish" under new CEO Elon Musk's leadership.
The famous musician shared that he was "saddened" by the direction Twitter was heading, in a tweet on Friday.
"All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world," he wrote, before revealing he would be exiting the platform.
"I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked," John wrote.
Elton John will perform at the White House. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Harlequin)
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His exit prompted a response from the Twitter chief himself.
Musk wrote, "I love your music. Hope you come back. Is there any misinformation in particular that you’re concerned about?"
Twitter announced it would no longer enforce the company's COVID-19 misinformation policy, shortly after Musk took over. That policy enacted in 2020 forbid posts that contradicted "authoritative sources" on the virus. It later expanded to remove posts with "harmful or misleading" content about COVID-19 vaccines.
Musk has been a vocal advocate for restoring free speech on the social media website.
Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter has garnered waves of criticism from mainstream media. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
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Musk's takeover in October prompted an exodus of disgruntled celebrities, from actress Whoopi Goldberg to "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes.
Fans flooded John's post expressing sadness over the musician leaving Twitter, while some in the industry criticized the famous performer over his decision.
Musician Fives Times August scolded John, accusing him of caving to the establishment.
"Know what saddens me? Artists like you who kept silent these last few years in the face of world wide tyranny. You had a chance to stand against the establishment like a true rock and roller but instead you joined the regime. Shame on you and every other artist who followed suite," he wrote.
British DJ "Lange" also criticized the decision, in light of the latest Twitter Files dump by Bari Weiss which showed a Stanford physician was blacklisted by the company for saying lockdowns would hurt children.
The user pointed out, "'Misinformation' like this esteemed Doctor's efforts to have scientific debate surrounding the lockdowns? He's been proved right."
Journalist Jim Stinson was one of many users who wondered why John would be against "censorship."
"The Elton John I recall from the 1970s would stand against censorship. What happened to that guy? I miss him," he wrote.
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