Nothing can stop Kathy Griffin from trolling Elon Musk, apparently, not even a Twitter ban.
The comedian was banned from her Twitter account, @kathygriffin, on Nov. 6 for “engaging in impersonation,” according to Musk’s tweets.
Griffin had been mocking the new Twitter owner by changing her display name to Musk’s to demonstrate how Musk’s new policies regarding verified accounts is flawed, and Musk quickly enforced the “parody” rules of his new version of Twitter Blue.
Under Musk, users with the verified checkmark must pay $8 per month to keep it, and anyone who pays can be verified, defeating the purpose of the verification of celebrities, journalists, and other public figures.
And apparently, if an account doesn’t “specify ‘parody'” it will be “permanently suspended.”
Following her ban, Griffin resurfaced through her dead mother’s Twitter account, @TipItMaggieG, announcing, “I’m tweeting from my dead mother’s account. She would not mind.”
She also started the hashtag #FreeKathy, which garnered support from fellow celebrities like Mark Hamill, who tweeted the hashtag with a thumbs up emoji.
Musk later joked that Griffin was suspended for “impersonating a comedian,” to which Griffin responded by saying “you stole that joke you a–hole.”
Other celebrities joined in on trolling Musk, such as Sarah Silverman and Valerie Bertinelli, who both changed their name and profile photo to Musk’s.
“[T]he blue checkmark simply meant your identity was verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you. That no longer applies. Good luck out there!” Bertinelli tweeted.
Griffin later added a new tweet, speaking as her late mother: “Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world tell u…you’re a douchebag. This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed wine loving mother saying I’m gonna get tipsy & throw my bingo cards at you! NOT A PARODY. To the moon, a–hole. #FreeKathy.”
The hashtag #FreeKathy began trending after the incident and many chimed in in support of the comedian.
“Kathy Griffin has been permanently suspended because she hurt Elon Musk’s feelings,” one person said.
Another pointed out the irony of Musk’s stance on free speech, saying, “Elon Musk: ‘Comedy is now legal on Twitter.’ Also Elon Musk: suspend Kathy Griffin for making fun of me.”
Meanwhile, Kanye West‘s Twitter account was reinstated Oct. 28 following his antisemitic statements.