When Musk first bid for the social media platform back in April, some vowed to quit the platform, while others announced they were going to stay on it in protest.
After a tumultuous back and forth between the former Twitter board and Musk, the Tesla CEO has now completed his $44 billion acquisition. Once again, he’s come in for criticism, but some people are clearly thrilled.
Here’s a list of celebrities who’ve backed Musk.
Shaquille O’Neal
NBA legend Shaq was one of the first people to congratulate Musk on his new acquisition. After the billionaire tweeted the video of him carrying a sink into Twitter HQ to complete his deal, Shaq replied a few hours later.
“Excited to see what you accomplish here,” the athlete turned broadcaster wrote.
Maye Musk
Elon’s mom also spoke positively about the changes at Twitter. Maye has become a prominent figure in Elon’s life, appearing with him on Saturday Night Live, and often attending the MET Gala with him.
Maye, who is also an author, designer and entrepreneur, retweeted many of her son’s tweets, calling herself a “proud mom” after he shared his “wonderful message” to the Twitter advertisers.
Ted Cruz
En masse, Republicans shared their enthusiasm for Musk after he completed his takeover. Ted Cruz was vocal in his support, particularly as it pertains to “free speech.”
“I think Elon Musk buying Twitter is one of the most significant developments for free speech in modern times,” he told Fox News. “Big tech is the single greatest threat to free speech in the free and fair elections that we have in America and Twitter was brazen about it, silencing and censoring conservatives.”
Texas Senator Cruz wrote on Twitter on Thursday night that Musk was “off to a good start by firing the top executives!”
Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden surprised some with his take on Musk’s arrival as the new Twitter owner.
Anticipating some backlash, the whistleblower wrote on Friday: “This is going to cause controversy, but platform censorship had clearly gone too far. Content moderation should be an individual decision, not a corporate prison. Let people make their own choices—and not just on Twitter.” He was retweeting a news report that suggested Musk would reverse lifetime bans on Twitter users.
In a Twitter thread, Snowden went on to explain how corporations can control posts they don’t think you should see, while Musk could now simply implement a tool for users to make that decision.
Ben Shapiro
Ben Shapiro also celebrated Musk’s arrival, speaking about the topic on The Ben Shapiro Show, and firing off several tweets after it was confirmed.
As Musk celebrated gaining thousands of new followers, Shapiro highlighted that now the “clamps” are off his account, he’s gained over 40,000 new followers in just a few hours. “That’s not a coincidence” he wrote.
He also called for Canadian psychologist and conservative commentator Jordan Peterson to be reinstated to Twitter after he was suspended over the summer for a tweet about Elliot Page. Jordan’s daughter Mikhaila Peterson also asked Musk to bring her dad back to Twitter.
Mark Cuban
Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban congratulated Musk on his new purchase.
“I’m looking forward to the @elonmusk era on Twitter,” the Shark Tank entrepreneur wrote on Friday. “He is a ready, fire, aim entrepreneur who will truly enjoy f****** with everyone who has an expectation of him. The only expectation you can have of @elonmusk is that he will flex his independence to show everyone who’s in charge.”
When a user replied to Cuban’s tweet suggesting Musk had grossly overpaid for Twitter, Cuban disagreed suggesting Musk could “grow it profitably” and “make a killing.”
