Sitcom star Valerie Bertinelli changes name to Elon Musk on Twitter to retweet left-leaning posts, sparking debate

This story was originally published on Passionfruit.

Emmy award-winning actress Valerie Bertinelli impersonated Elon Musk and retweeted Democratic candidates for office, sparking controversy about the future of verification on the platform.

Bertinelli (@wolfiesmom), who has over 565,400 followers on Twitter, changed her display name to “Elon Musk” and proceeded to retweet Democrat politicians so it would look as though Musk himself was doing it. Users on Twitter applauded the move, and Bertinelli somehow avoided getting banned, unlike other celebrities who tried the same trick.

“Valerie Bertinelli is making Betty White proud. #voteblue,” one user wrote, referring to Bertinelli’s co-star from the sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

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