Elton John Quits Twitter: “It Saddens Me to See How Misinformation is Being Used to Divide”

Elton John has announced he is leaving Twitter due to Elon Musk’s management of the social platform allowing “misinformation to flourish unchecked.” Musk took over Twitter back in October. Many high-profile artists have left the platform since.

“All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together,” John wrote in a departing Tweet shared earlier today (Dec. 9). “Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world.”

The Tweet continued, “I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.” See the full tweet below.

John follows the likes of Jack White and Trent Reznor who have previously announced they were leaving the platform.

White‘s decision to leave followed Musk’s reinstatement of Donald Trump. The former president was previously banned from Twitter in light of his involvement with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. White said at the time, “So you gave trump his twitter platform back. Absolutely disgusting, Elon. That is officially an asshole move.”

Reznor told the Hollywood Reporter about his split. “We don’t need the arrogance of the billionaire class to feel like they can just come in and solve everything,” he said. “Even without him involved, I just find that it has become such a toxic environment. For my mental health, I need to tune out. I don’t feel good being there anymore.”

Since Musk bought Twitter, the platform has ended its COVID-19 misinformation policy and a number of top executives have been fired from the company. The “Twitter Blue” subscription – which allows a user to receive a verified “blue checkmark” at a monthly cost – caused a widespread impersonation problem.

Meanwhile, John has slated the official last date on his ongoing farewell tour: a set at Glastonbury. The “Tiny Dancer” singer has been confirmed as the first headliner for the 2023 festival.

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)