Elon Musk, 51, responded to Jimmy Fallon‘s tweet addressing a joke hashtag that read, “#RIPJimmyFallon” trending on Twitter on Nov. 15. “Elon, can you fix this?,” the 48-year-old talk show host asked the new CEO of the social media app before he wrote back with, “Fix what?” Elon went on to add a second tweet in which he seemed to lightheartedly question Jimmy’s verified identity.
Fix what?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
“Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!? Say something only the real Jimmy would say…” the tweet read. Jimmy didn’t appear to respond to the second tweet, but the exchange brought on several more responses from various Twitter users who seemed amused at the joke and the reaction it got from both Jimmy and Elon. Others were confused at the overall hoax.
Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!?
Say something that only the real Jimmy would say …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
Elon and Jimmy’s tweets come after users started tweeting “RIPJimmyFallon” along with various photos of different celebrities this week. It happened in the midst of Elon’s steps to make several changes to Twitter since he bought the company a few weeks ago. Some of those changes included firing many of the platform’s full-time employees and introducing a new verification option for $7.99 a month. The billionaire recently revealed he’s trying to make the site as authentic as possible and will ban users imitating others if they don’t make it clear they are a parody account in their name and bio.
On Sunday, it was also reported that Elon further fired teams that battle misinformation, and some of the contractors claimed they hadn’t been warned before he made the cut. Around 4,400 of 5,500 contractors were let go, according Reporter Casey Newton from Platformer News. “Contractors aren’t being notified at all, they’re just losing access to Slack and email,” Newton wrote on Twitter. “Managers figured it out when their workers just disappeared from the system. They heard nothing from their leaders.”
Elon’s new head position at Twitter has not only affected its employees, many celebrities also quit the app when he took over. Model Gigi Hadid, singer Sara Bareilles, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, and more released tweets about their decision to leave earlier this month. Comedian Kathy Griffin was also suspended from the platform after she impersonated Elon and went on her late mother’s account to clap back at him and call him an “asshole” for his actions.