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Ethan Klein slammed for juvenile attempt to diss Elon Musk, gets banned from Twitter

Klein, of H3H3 Productions, was suspended for trying to impersonate Musk after skipping the new verification process for parody accounts

Popular YouTuber Ethan Klein was banned from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk and joking about the billionaire’s alleged relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Musk, 51, has been making some radical changes to Twitter since completing his $44 billion buyout of the social media platform at the end of October. One of the biggest changes was made to the account verification process. Verified users are reportedly set to lose their blue checks unless they sign up for Twitter Blue for $8 a month, which means new accounts can also purchase verification of their own if they sign up for the premium plan. 

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Critics of the move argued that one could simply buy Twitter Blue and start impersonating someone else. Musk subsequently said accounts that were labeled parody wouldn't face issues, but they would have to make the change while signing up for the premium service. Klein, of H3H3 Productions, was suspended for trying to impersonate Musk after skipping the new verification process for parody accounts. 

It appears the YouTuber started impersonating the SpaceX CEO under the assumption parody accounts will not be affected. He changed his account's name and profile to match the billionaire's without verification, and made several posts about Ghislaine Maxwell and the "sacrifices" Musk had made to promote "free speech" on Twitter by allegedly allowing racist and abusive posts.  “Let it be known it says PARODY ACCOUNT in the info,” he tweeted. “Before it dies. Comedy lives forever.” Shortly after, however, Klein revealed via the H3 Podcast account that he had been banned for the impersonation posts. “Comedy is dead on Twitter and Elon Musk killed it,” the tweet read. 

Klein's account is still "suspended" at the time of publication. While the length of his suspension is unclear, the H3 Podcast account has retweeted claims about him being “permanently suspended.” Nonetheless, he was excoriated by many for his attempts to troll Musk while not adhering to the rules.

"Why is Ethan Klein trying to get banned from literally everything lmao," one tweeted. "He was begging to be banned attempting to dance around the rules," another wrote. "PARODY had to be listed IN THE SCREEN NAME. It says in the TOS," a comment read. "The rules are simple if you have basic literacy skills," someone else quipped, while another offered, "My take is that the likes of Ethan Klein could never live on a neutral platform. They would get steamrolled if their most despicable positions weren't protected by the platform. Ethan says 'if rules are no longer mine to abuse, rather be banned than live on a neutral platform" 

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That said, Klein wasn't the only popular figure to be kicked off Twitter for pretending to be Musk and posting tweets mocking him. Comedienne Kathy Griffin was permanently banned from the platform on Sunday night after she changed her name and picture to match the billionaire's and tweeted about the midterm elections. “After much-spirited discussion with the females in my life. I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right (They’re also sexy females, btw.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen” she wrote as Musk. After her suspension, the Tesla boss mocked Griffin by tweeting, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian. But if she really wants her account back, she can have it. For $8.”

Actor Rich Sommer, of 'Mad Men' fame, was also permanently suspended for failing to abide by the new policy and adopting Musk's name and profile photo. “Okay, time to employ plan b, since they’re MAKING me keep Twitter," Sommer tweeted as Musk. "Does anyone know any advertisers who are, like, kind of 'into racism.' NOT ACTUAL RACISTS!! Just ad ppl who are, y’know, curious about what it’s all about (racism).” Meanwhile, former pro football player Chris Kluwe was also permanently banished from the platform for impersonating its new overlord.

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