Kathy Griffin has trolled Elon Musk by returning to Twitter via her dead mother’s account after being suspended.
The comedian was barred from the social media site for turning her user profile into a parody of its new owner.
Griffin’s account was soon removed, with Musk writing: “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”
However, Musk soon received a tweet from the account Griffin’s mother Maggie used before her death, which had not been active since 2019.
“I’m back from the grave to say… #FreeKathy,” she wrote, later clarifying in a separate tweet: “Oh by the way this is KG. I’m tweeting from my dead mother’s account.”
When one user claimed that Griffin had created a new account under the guise of her mum, she pointed out that “my wonderful mother had an account that I ran for her” before her death.
“She passed away, but I always kept the account. Trust me, she would be with me on this. Relax,” Griffin added.
When another Twitter user wrote that Griffin had been suspended for impersonating Musk, the new owner himself stepped in and replied: “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.”
Griffin highlighted that many of Musk’s fans had already been making that joke, and he was “stealing” it.
“I mean… you stole that joke, you asshole,” she wrote, adding: “People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack. Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something. This is KG btw.”
Musk added that the comedian can have her original account back if she pays a fee of $8.
This is the amount Musk will charge users to retain their verified status, a move that has led to widespread criticism.
Last week, actor Kathy Burke condemned Musk for the change, writing: “Musk can f*** off with his idea of charging blue-tickers. I give my all to this hell site for FREE. Cheeky b**** should be paying ME. Don’t need the poxy thing anyway.”
Some famous stars, including model Gigi Hadid, have left Twitter as a result of Musk’s takeover, which was completed last week after months of legal back and forth.