Jack White and Trent Reznor have deactivated their Twitter accounts in response to Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform.
In a statement posted to his Instagram, White criticizes Musk, who bought Twitter for a reported $44 billion, for reinstating former president Donald Trump‘s account over the weekend, which was originally suspended for violating the site’s “Glorification of Violence” policy with tweets leading up to the January 6 Capitol attack.
“Absolutely disgusting, Elon,” White writes. “That is officially an a**hole move.”
“Trump was removed from Twitter because he incited violence multiple times, people died and were injured as a result of his lies and his ego, (let alone what his coup did to attempt to destroy democracy and our Capitol),” he continues. “And how about the division and the families broken apart from his rhetoric and what it did to this country?”
Taking aim at Musk’s explanation that he’s reinstalling Trump’s account for “free speech” reasons, White writes “I am a believer in free speech, but for example I’m not about to let the KKK hold a rally at our record label’s performance stage.”
White notes that he never had a personal Twitter account himself, but adds that he’ll be deactivating the account of his label Third Man Records, which has indeed been removed.
Reznor, meanwhile, told The Hollywood Reporter of his plans to “depart” Twitter, saying, “We don’t need the arrogance of the billionaire class to feel like they can just come in and solve everything.”
“Even without [Musk] involved, I just find that it has become such a toxic environment,” the Nine Inch Nails frontman declared. “For my mental health, I need to tune out. I don’t feel good being there anymore.”
Reznor’s account has since been deactivated, as well.
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