10 Tweets That Costed Celebrities' Losses Worth Millions

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Founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Noah Glass, and Biz Stone, Twitter gained prominence a year later as the microblogging site helped people share their opinions in public. The revamped edition came in 2010 and has been through several changes. Many celebrities, politicians, and business personalities have used the social networking site Twitter as a medium to share their lives and work. Major government establishments have also begun using it to have people communicate and reach out to communities for the better. While there are good aspects of Twitter, sometimes celebrities take things too far, which can get them in trouble.

Celebrities and business personalities have always found it tricky to maintain a safe social media space as anything from the past can also have consequences on their present. From Chrissy Teigen’s hurtful and bullying tweets to the Amber Heard tweet that made it into the defamation trial, let’s look at the tweets that cost celebrities millions.

Chrissy Teigen Bullying Through Tweets

Chrissy Teigen came under fire in 2021 after being accused of online bullying Courtney Stodden who was married to Doug Hutchison, a much older acting coach. According to Glamour, Teigen publicly tweeted that Courtney Stodden should take a dirt nap and even messaged her that she couldn’t wait for Stodden to die. Macy’s dropped Teigen’s cookware line while Bloomindale’s walked away from an endorsement deal.

Elon Musk’s Stock Market Shake Up

Elon Musk took Twitter by storm in 2018 when he tweeted about deciding to make Tesla a private entity at a $420 per share cost. This tweet was not backed up with facts and caused chaos in the market. The US Securities and Exchange Commission fined him and Tesla $20 million for hurting the investors.

Dani Mathers’s Body-Shaming

A former Playboy model, Dani Mathers, made a shocking Snapchat story in early 2017 when she posted a picture of a naked older woman at the gym and body-shamed her. The screencaps were shared on Twitter, and Mathers took the platform to defend herself. Along with losing endorsements, she was charged in court on the count of invasion of privacy.

CeeLo Green Made Rape Remarks

In July 2012, a woman accused singer CeeLo Green of mixing Ecstasy in her drink and woke up naked in his bed. He later made numerous controversial tweets about the accusation and made rape remarks, as noted by The Guardian. Amidst the backlash, Green had to back out from returning to The Voice as a judge, which earned him $6.5 million per season.

Amanda Bynes’ Distasteful Tweet About Rihanna

Amanda Bynes became a sensation as a child actress and continued her reign in movies and television during the early 2000s. During her struggle with substance abuse, Bynes was erratic and unpredictable. In 2013, she tweeted an insensitive message saying that Rihanna was abused by her then-boyfriend Chris Brown because she was ugly. The actress has since been on an indefinite acting hiatus, losing millions for roles she could have played.

Spike Lee Tweets An Address

In February 2012, director Spike shared the address of George Zimmerman, who killed an unarmed black teenager in Florida. Lee tweeted the address Zimmerman, but it was home to an elderly couple who received harassing phone calls and threats. They took Lee to court, and the director settled the case for an undisclosed amount.

Kevin Spacey’s Sexual Allegations

During the rise of the #MeToo era, Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of House Of Cards, and many people came forward as his victims of sexual abuse. Spacey took Twitter to deny the allegations and came out as gay, trying to explain himself, which was met with criticism. As stated by Collider, he was fired from the show and asked to pay $31 million in damages.

Carlos Rodriguez Partying With Andrew Tate

A month after Andrew Tate was accused of sex trafficking and posting misogynistic remarks, the former CEO of G2 Esports, Carlos Rodriguez, tweeted a video from a party with Tate at his side. The video earned backlash, and the company asked him to step down from his position as CEO, costing him $10 million.

J K Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets

J K Rowling’s transphobia first came to light in 2020 when she shared an op-ed on Twitter about people who menstruate, saying it should be women. She has drawn criticism for the last two years for her insensitivity toward the remarks and observed a sales drop in the retail of Harry Potter books which have made over $7.7 billion.

Amber Heard’s Op-Ed Against Johnny Depp

The Depp V Heard trial in May 2022 was a highly televised event everywhere. One of the most poignant parts of the case was the op-ed Heard published in the Washington Post. The actress tweeted the link, which was used as evidence against her for false accusations against Depp. As mentioned by Variety, Heard lost the defamation trial and was ordered to pay $10.35 million.

Another celebrity who came under fire for a tweet was Kevin Hart, whose homophobic tweet cost him a gig to host the Oscars in 2019. While Twitter has been a safe medium for people to share their opinions and beliefs, it is also a platform where celebrities have earned backlash for making remarks that have repercussions.

Sources: Glamour, The Guardian, Collider, Variety