Mark Hamill has joined legions of celebrities and popular pages in announcing his departure from X, formerly Twitter, in the wake of Donald Trump’s stunning election victory.
Hamill, who long used X to deliver searing takes on Trump during his presidential campaign, said he abandoned the social media site in a post on Blue Sky, the up-and-coming alternative to X that is now considered his platform of choice. In his announcement, the Star Wars actor made reference to Elon Musk, the owner of X whose increasingly close relationship with the president-elect has raised concerns for countless users of the platform.
“I’ve fled [Elon’s] site for bluer skies,” Hamill wrote. While the actor admitted that the move will likely see him be labelled as an “Ex-X,” he said he much preferred the term “TwitterQuitter.” While the move feels warranted amid concerns around X’s promotion of far-right conspiracy theories and seeming Trump favoritism, it’s nonetheless sad news for anyone whose X feed was brightened by any number of Hamill’s scorching reads on both Musk and Trump.
After all, it was the medium of choice for almost all of Hamill’s reactions to Trump throughout his race to the White House, from his criticisms of the then-candidate’s incessant ramblings, to his thoughts on Trump’s stance on the military, and his penchant for lying. Hamill was equally critical of Musk on the billionaire’s very own platform, using it to call him “triggered,” and being among those who staunchly opposed Musk’s changes to the site earlier this year.
I WANT people to know it was me that liked their tweets.
Now my only option is to reply & write the word “like”.
This will seriously cut into my time wishing folks a!
How can we get the powers-that-be to STOP “improving” this site? Grrrrrr!#BringBackLIKES https://t.co/ogkBs8O1aS
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) June 12, 2024
Coincidentally, X was also the site where Hamill solidified his friendship with fellow prominent anti-Trump X poster Stephen King, but we’re hopeful their bromance will continue to flourish over on Blue Sky. Speaking of King, the author also announced his departure from X this week, saying the platform has “just become too toxic” and encouraging followers to find him on Threads. Both Hamill and King join a growing list of notable figures who’ve abandoned X in response to fears around both the site and its owner. Earlier this month, the Guardian newspaper announced plans to leave X amid worries that Musk “has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Elsewhere, director Guillermo del Toro, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and singer Barbra Striesand also fled the platform, as well as Ben Stiller, Matthew Lillard, and journalist Don Lemon, who had over 1.5 million followers. A similar mass exodus occurred back when Musk first purchased the platform, and was less affiliated with Trump, in 2022, with Trent Reznor, Whoopi Goldberg, Shonda Rhimes and Gigi Hadid among those to sign out of X.
It isn’t the first time Hamill has done away with a platform in response to Trump’s presidential candidacy. Last month, he was among the hundreds of thousands of Washington Post readers who cancelled their subscriptions, after the newspaper refused to endorse either presidential candidate in the lead-up to the election.
“Just canceled the newspaper that told us ‘Democracy Dies In Darkness,’” Hamill wrote, mustering the same spirit he used in his more recent X departure. While we will sorely miss the actor’s unmatched Trump takedowns on X, it’s all the more reason for fans to ditch the site altogether and head to bluer (and probably less conspiratorial) skies.
