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35. Gigi Hadid - An American model signed to IMG models since 2013, Gigi Hadid made international fame after being named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in 2016. She also recently gave birth to her first child with her partner Zayn Malik of the One Direction fame. James Devaney/GC Images

KEY POINTS

  • Gigi Hadid announced on Instagram that she deactivated her Twitter account Friday
  • The supermodel said the platform has become a place she didn't want to be part of
  • Hadid apologized to her fans on the microblogging site, saying she loved connecting with them

Gigi Hadid has quit Twitter due to its "new leadership."

The 27-year-old supermodel became the latest celebrity to leave Twitter after Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging site late last month.

She announced via Instagram Story that she "deactivated" her Twitter account Friday amid the mass layoffs at the tech giant, including the human rights team, Page Six reported.

"For a long time, but especially with its new leadership," Hadid wrote, referring to the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, "it's becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its [sic] not a place I want to be a part [sic] of."

Hadid went on to apologize to her Twitter followers, telling them that she loved connecting with them.

"Only sorry to the fans, who I've loved connecting with for a decade via Twitter, but I can't say it's a safe place for anyone nor a social platform that will do more good than harm," she concluded.

The model accompanied her statement with a screenshot of human rights counsel Shannon Raj Singh's tweet about being laid off from the platform.

"Yesterday was my last day at Twitter: the entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company," Singh tweeted Saturday. "I am enormously proud of the work we did to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and to defend the needs of those particularly at risk of human rights abuse by virtue of their social media presence, such as journalists & human rights defenders."

In a separate tweet, she added, "I will forever be grateful for the privilege of getting to work with @cynthiamw @heysarah & @EstherOhrt on the Human Rights team, along with so many other brilliant, mission-driven individuals across the company."

She also asked her followers to pass along any job opportunities where they think she might be a good fit and to remember her other co-workers who are "resilient, thoughtful, principled individuals with a lot to offer."

Twitter fired roughly half of its staff Friday, with an email to employees explaining that the cuts were "necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward."

Other celebrities who have since left Twitter include Toni Braxton, Shonda Rhimes, Sara Bareilles and Téa Leoni, according to Page Six.

Meanwhile, users noticed that Amber Heard's Twitter account disappeared shortly after her ex-boyfriend Musk's takeover, sparking various speculations about what happened to it.

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Some suggested that Heard may have quietly deleted her account, while others speculated that it may have been Musk who took it down.

"Elon Musk bought Twitter to delete Amber Heard's Twitter account. He deleted her account," one person speculated.

Will Elon Musk be able to say, 'I told you so,' about his purchase of Twitter?
AFP
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