Broadway’s ‘Playbill’ leaves Twitter, saying the site ‘expanded tolerance for hate’

NEW YORK — Broadway’s Playbill says it is leaving Twitter indefinitely.

Playbill, a news outlet and guide for the Broadway theater community and theatergoers, said Friday it left Twitter after Elon Musk took over the platform.

In a statement, Playbill said the social media platform has “greatly expanded its tolerance for hate, negativity, and misinformation.” The account, which had more than 400,000 followers, was not active on Twitter as of Friday.

The company that owns Playbill was established in 1885. It is family-owned.

“We feel we can no longer continue to utilize a platform where the line between actual news and insidious rhetoric has become blurred beyond recognition,” Playbill said in a statement.

Hours after Twitter launched its short-lived paid verification system Wednesday, the site faced a barrage of celebrity and company impersonators. The platform suspended numerous fake accounts that had “verified” check marks for brands ranging from Nintendo of America to the software company Valve.

Some of the fake company accounts on Twitter included inappropriate logos or pictures — the imposter Nintendo account, for example, tweeted an image of Mario giving the middle finger.

The following Playbill Twitter accounts are no longer active: @Playbill, @PlaybillTravel, @PLAYBILLder, @PlaybillArts, @PlaybillStore.

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However, Playbill is urging theatergoers to continue following them on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The company added that that any tweet from a Twitter account that contains the Playbill name is fake.

On Thursday, Elon Musk told Twitter staff that they need to return to the office full-time, or “resignation accepted,” he can be heard saying in audio obtained exclusively by ABC News.

“Let me be crystal clear, if people do not return to the office when they are able to return to the office — they cannot remain at the company,” Musk is heard in the audio telling an employee who asked about his new plans for a 40-hour workweek at the company during an all-hands company meeting. “End of story.”

Audio excerpts from the meeting were obtained first by ABC News via a lawyer representing former Twitter employees in a lawsuit against the company. ABC News has verified the authenticity of the audio.

“Even if people returned to the office,” a Twitter employee can be heard replying to Musk, “the offices are separate offices — we won’t be in person anyways.”

CNNW contributed to this post.