In keeping with the trend of celebrities poking fun at Elon Musk‘s handling of Twitter as the company’s newest CEO, Weird Al Yankovic did what he does best — made a big fat joke. In fact, he’s such a master of his craft that his gag had many users falling for it.
Recommended VideosYankovic managed to convince a decent swathe of five million followers that Weird: The Al Yankovic Story‘s lead star, Daniel Radcliffe, was suspended from Twitter. He added that the suspended account was merely a parody, implying that Radcliffe was one of the few celebrities that changed their profile to impersonate Musk.
Oh no, they suspended @danielradcliffe's Twitter account! Wasn't it obvious he was doing a PARODY???
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) November 7, 2022After the actor’s name began to trend, Harry Potter fans came to the defense of their favorite actor. How dare Musk suspend one of the most iconic actors in the early 2000s?!
Fans grabbed their pitchforks as they came for Musk for Radcliffe’s suspension. Meanwhile, others were confused and asked to see the original Tweet that caused Radcliffe to get banned on Twitter.
Elon Musk just suspended Daniel Radcliffe for portraying Weird Al to promote a movie in which he portrays Weird Al. Apparently acting and Comedy are now both illegal on Twitter. So much for Free Speech. pic.twitter.com/FlgGT7LY19
— Paranoid Humanoid (@DRodbone) November 7, 2022Are you f kidding me? Daniel Radcliffe is suspended now? All my favs are getting suspended by a man who has disappointed more women than Sex and the City 2. pic.twitter.com/FLdABQWXPt
— Isabella Steele 💙 (@MsBellaSteele) November 7, 2022elon personally suspending daniel radcliffe: pic.twitter.com/vszuPedKo6
— JRR PARODY Jokien 🗡️🏹🪓 (@joshcarlosjosh) November 7, 2022What did Daniel Radcliffe do to get suspended?
— anyangel 💙🐱🐱💙🌻🌊🌊🌊 (@dancingonapin) November 7, 2022The news only got more confusing as fans assumed that Radcliffe changed his account to impersonate Yankovic, not Musk, just so he could promote the Weird movie. But, naturally, Yankovic was in on the joke.
@elonmusk you suspended Daniel Radcliffe for promoting a movie? Really? You worship Velveeta Voldemort and now you suspend Harry Potter. You post pic of Nazis, you lie about Pelosi, You're a gigantic, steaming sack of republican! WTF happened to free speech?
— Adriana-hold my wine I have to pet this dog (@ANB_) November 7, 2022You're telling me they suspended Daniel Radcliffe for jokingly impersonating the legend Weird Al Yankovic because he's playing him in a movie? Good Gods what has this app become
— Gabzaras **COMMS CLOSED** (@gabtool) November 7, 2022Here’s the thing: Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t have a Twitter account, and never has.
He never made one, and the Twitter handle that Yankovic mentioned was someone else’s old account that may have impersonated Radcliffe in the past. Radcliffe is one of the handful of celebrities who aren’t active on social media. Others include The Good Doctor‘s Freddie Highmore, Twilight‘s Kirsten Stewart, and James Bond‘s Daniel Craig.
Musk’s revealed plans for verification weren’t something users were excited about. While the CEO claimed it was to bring ‘free speech back to the people,’ people feared that impersonations and misinformation would be more rampant on the site, especially with the upcoming mid-term elections coming in the U.S.
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