Trent Reznor called Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter an “embarrassment,” before quitting the social media platform on Sunday (November 20th).
Since Musk closed the deal on purchasing Twitter, he has laid off half the company’s staff; instituted an $8-per-month blue verification checkmark fee; issued an ultimatum to the remaining staffers to either return to the office or quit their jobs (which he has since partially retracted); and reinstated Donald Trump’s account.
While promoting his and Atticus Ross’ score for the new movie Bones and All, Reznor was asked by The Hollywood Reporter for his take on the current state of Twitter under Musk. “Embarrassment,” replied the Nine Inch Nails frontman. “I’m about to depart. We don’t need the arrogance of the billionaire class to feel like they can just come in and solve everything.”
Reznor added that he was thinking of quitting Twitter long before Musk bought the company. “Even without him involved, I just find that it has become such a toxic environment. For my mental health, I need to tune out. I don’t feel good being there anymore.”
On Sunday, Reznor made good on his promise, deactivating his Twitter account. As it stood, Reznor didn’t use Twitter that much, as his tweets were few and far between. However, his account had 1.6 million followers, so he gave up a major social platform to stand on his principles.
Update, November 21st: Musk responded to Reznor on Monday, calling the Nine Inch Nails frontman a “crybaby.”
The original score for Bones and All was released on Friday, and can be streamed in full here. Nine Inch Nails recently played a landmark show in Cleveland, where classic members of the band returned for a one-off performance of a handful of songs at the end of the set.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include the news that Trent Reznor deactivated his Twitter account on Sunday, as well as Elon Musk’s response to Reznor.