Jimmy Fallon has pleaded for Elon Musk’s help after he became the latest victim of a Twitter trend.
Since the Tesla CEO’s billion-dollar Twitter takeover, the social media platform has seen an increase in impersonations, fake accounts and misinformation.
On Tuesday (15 November), the hashtag #RIPJimmyFallon appeared to be trending, despite The Tonight Show host being alive and well.
“Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon,” the late-night host tweeted.
The next morning, Musk responded: “Fix what?”
Following the billionaire’s Twitter buyout, he announced he would be rehauling the platform’s verification system, which initially offered notable figures a checkmark of authentification.
Musk criticised the original system, and said he wanted to implement a subscription service called Blue Twitter that would allow anyone to become verified, arguing that it would “democratise journalism and empower the voice of the people”.
However, within days of the new service’s rollout, many users purchased verified badges and created hoax accounts of well-known figures to tweet outrageous claims.
One account impersonating former US President George W Bush tweeted: “I miss killing Iraqis.”
Musk was later forced to block new sign-ups. He has since announced the delay in the subscription service, saying it would relaunch on 29 November “to make sure that it is rock solid”.
Musk’s controversial Twitter acquisition has led to an exodus of celebrity users, from Stephen Fry to Gigi Hadid.
“Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye,” Grey’s Anatomy creator, Shonda Rhimes, wrote.
Grammy-winning singer Sara Bareilles added: “Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me.”
Comedian Kathy Griffin flipped the script and used her dead mother’s Twitter account to continue trolling Musk after her original count was suspended.
Sarah Silverman and Rich Sommer’s accounts have also been suspended on Twitter for parodying Musk.
