A number of celebrities have been weighing in following the announcement that outgoing US president Donald Trump’s Twitter account had been permanently suspended.
Trump was given a 12-hour ban following the riots at the US Capitol earlier this week, but Twitter CEO made Jack Dorsey the decision to permanently shut down the account on Friday due to what he described as “the risk of further incitement of violence”.
Following the news, several famous faces spoke of their joy about Trump’s ban, including Chrissy Teigen, who was once branded “filthy mouthed” by the president.
Reacting to the news, she did little to mask her joy at Trump losing his most infamous social media platform:
Other celebrities who have been critical of Trump throughout his presidency, including Marvel star Mark Ruffalo, Star Trek favourite George Takei and comedian Kathy Griffin, shared their relief at the news:
Meanwhile, others also questioned why Twitter didn’t act quicker in deactivating Donald Trump’s account.
Oscar-winning actor Whoopi Goldberg commented “finally” alongside a screenshot of Trump’s page, while Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus tweeted Jack Dorsey to say: “What the fuck took you so long?”
Explaining why they had banned Trump in a statement, Twitter said: “After close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter rules would potentially result in this very course of action.
“Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.
“However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things.
“We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.”