Gigi Hadid the latest star to quit Twitter over Elon Musk's shenanigans

Model Gigi Hadid has joined a long list of celebrities who have decided to deactivate their Twitter account after South African-born businessman, Elon Musk, took over. 

Gigi explained the reason for her decision on Instagram. She shared a Story with a screenshot of a tweet that revealed that Twitter had laid off its entire Human Rights team. 

Twitter has cut almost half of its workforce in a bid to "ensure the company’s success moving forward”. Elon has also made several changes, including a controversial decision to charge $8 (R142) monthly for the platform's verification blue checkmark.

Gigi says her departure from Twitter has been a long time coming. 

"For a long time, but especially with its new leadership, it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and [it's] not a place I want to be a part of," she wrote. 

Gigi added that she is "only sorry to the fans" who she has loved connecting with on Twitter over the past decade.

"I can’t say it’s a safe place for anyon, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm."

ALSO READ: Gigi Hadid vows to donate fashion month earnings to Ukraine and Palestine

Several celebrities have either quit or completely deactivated their Twitter accounts since Elon's takeover. 

Shonda Rhimes, Sara Bareilles, Ken Olin, and Toni Braxton are just some of the stars who have ditched the platform.

While some are quitting, Elon is taking it upon himself to ban stars such as Kathy Griffin for life. The actress and comedian decided to change her Twitter name to Elon Musk.

Many people pointed out that charging users $8 to get a verification mark would lead to a flood of fake accounts passing themselves off as famous people. 

Kathy made her point by tweeting as Elon and urging people to vote for the Democrats on Tuesday. Elon responded by swiftly removing her from Twitter for impersonating him. 

Elon joked (we think) that Kathy can get her account back if she paid $8 for her blue checkmark. 

"Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended," the tech billionaire said on Twitter. 

ALSO READ: Elon Musk takes control of Twitter, fires executives

Main image credit: Instagram/@gigihadid