The saga ofElon Musk’stakeover of Twitter has been the stuff of Hollywood plotlines, with twists and turns galore, but with seemingly no happy ending for some people. After months of will-he-won’t-he and a threat of legal battles, Musk finally took charge of the social media platform with unpopular changes to the “blue tick” feature and the layoff of thousands of employees. According to a report in theNew York Times, one unnamed employee has drawn a likeness between the devastating mass clearing out of staff and the “Red Wedding” episode ofGame of Thrones.
During its numerous memorable episodes,Game of Thronesdelivered a real show-stopper moment inSeason 3’s “The Rains of Castamere,”which saw nearly every fan-favorite Stark being brutally murdered during the infamous “Red Wedding.” This is precisely what is referenced on Slack by the employee who quipped, “Has the red wedding started?”
Elon Musk officially took over Twitter on October 27, and soon after, some employees received emails telling them of their imminent removal from the company and others simply found themselves being locked out of the company’s internal system. During the period, all employees were barred from entering the Twitter offices “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.” Following the layoffs, further reports suggested that some employees had been asked to return to their jobs after being let go in error. In many ways, it has perhaps not been as smooth of a transition as it could have been.
Related:Neil Gaiman Roasts Elon Musk Over Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Criticism
Will Elon Musk’s Ownership Cause a Complete Celebrity Exodus?
In just a couple of weeks, Elon Musk’s arrival has signaled the departure of numerous celebrities from Twitter, with prominent users such as James Gunn and Neil Gaiman actively moving to platforms such as Instagram and Mastodon to prepare for the worst when it comes to upcoming changes to Twitter.
Among those who have already said goodbye to Twitter in response to Musk’s takeover have been Shonda Rhimes, Gigi Hadid, Whoopi Goldberg, Alex Winter, Amber Heard and Stephen Fry, with many of them citing Musk directly as the reason for their departure. Whether it has been Musk’s plan to charge “blue tick” users $8 for the privilege or for allowing “free speech” that some, including singer Toni Braxton and Gigi Hadid, have called out as encouraging “hate speech” that has turned the platform into a “cesspool of hate and bigotry,” the exodus from Twitter is clearly a long way from being done.
Whether Elon Musk has simply misjudged the initial response to his proposed Twitter changes or whether things are about to get even worse for the platform and its users, only time will tell, but having already publicly sparred with several big names, it seems that one thing for sure is that Musk will do with the platform what he feels it needs rather than what his users tell him they want.
