Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Twitter blocks and celebs bite back
After Twitter briefly suspended actress Rose McGowan’s account, a group of celebrities, activists and other concerned people banded together to boycott the social-media platform on Friday.
Software engineer Kelly Ellis proposed that users protest the suspension by avoiding Twitter for one day and announce their decision with the hash tag# Women Boycott Twitter. Celebrities including Chrissy Teigen, Alyssa Milano, John Cusack and Mark Ruffalo joined the movement.
McGowan had been tweeting actively about Harvey Weinstein, whose alleged decades-long conduct of harassing women was first revealed in a New York Times investigation last week. McGowan, who says she was one of the victims, saw her account blocked Wednesday, causing a flurry of criticism of Twitter’s policies and highlighting wider issues of abuse on the platform. The company later clarified that one of McGowan’s tweets had included a personal phone number — leading to the temporary ban — and unlocked the account after it was removed.
Meanwhile, director Quentin Tarantino says he is “stunned and heartbroken” about the sexual harassment allegations lodged against Weinstein, but needs time to wrap his head around it.
In a brief statement via Twitter relayed by Amber Tamblyn, Tarantino, whose films “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The Hateful Eight” were produced by Weinstein, says he will address the issue soon.