Comedian and actress Kathleen Griffin 62, on Sunday, changed her Twitter name and profile picture to match that of Elon Musk. She posted several tweets mimicking the social media company's new CEO. Such conduct by verified accounts is a violation of the paltform's rules.
The comedian is a far-left hyper-partisan activist known for her vitriolic verbal attacks against conservatives and former president Donald Trump. As President Joe Biden's Democrat party faces a massive defeat in the upcoming congressional midterm elections this week, some Hollywood celebrities including Griffin have taken to social media to campaign for the left-wing party.
In one of the viral impersonating tweets Sunday, Griffin, who along with other leftists have been whining about Musk's ownership of Twitter, instructed people to vote for Democrats in the midterm elections.
The comedian's conduct violates Twitter's terms of service which reads in part:
You may not impersonate individuals, groups, or organizations to mislead, confuse, or deceive others, nor use a fake identity in a manner that disrupts the experience of others on Twitter.
Griffin's Twitter account which was initially restricted, was suspended later, the first such high-profile ban since Musk took over the social media company.
"Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying 'parody' will be permanently suspended," Musk tweeted Sunday evening. "Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning."
He later added: "This wil be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue."
The Tesla CEO -- who also revealed that Twitter user numbers have significantly increased since he closed the deal last week to buy the social media company -- warned that "Any name change at all[by verified users] will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark."
Griffin infamously posed with the severed head of Trump in a bloody photo shoot for artist and photographer Tyler Shields in 2017. Her tweet of the gruesome picture went viral before it was restricted on the platform.
Reacting to Sunday's suspension of Griffin's account, some critics pointed out that she was not banned by Twitter for the gruesome 2017 post even as the plaform banned many conservative users, for so-called hate speech.