Celebrities support #WomenBoycottTwitter protest after Rose McGowan's suspension

Twitter’s temporary suspension of Rose McGowan’s account not only came at the worst time for the social media platform, but it drove many women to action. Though Twitter claimed the situation with McGowan was not due to her comments regarding Harvey Weinstein, many celebrities are supporting the day-long #WomenBoycottTwitter protest on Friday in support of those women whose voices have been silenced.

“Starts now,” Scandal‘s Kerry Washington tweeted before going off the Twitter grid on Friday morning. Elizabeth Banks, too, noted she’s “taking a mental health break from Twitter,” while Gabrielle Union declared, “Let’s go.”

Others urged fans to follow them on Instagram in lieu of Twitter. “I stand with my sisters,” Gina Rodriguez wrote. “I won’t be live tweeting the premiere of Jane the Virgin tomorrow. Instead come on over to @instagram I’ll do BTS!”

Chrissy Teigen also joined in the protest and the comments she received after her announcement only proved her point.

“Ladies. Let’s do this,” she wrote initially. “#WomenBoycottTwitter. Not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better.” According to screenshots she posted, her mentions were instantly filled with remarks like, “Are you a fan of a good butt spanking?”, “aight bitch leave,” and “It’s alright, Twitter is a better place without you easily offended feminist b—ches.”

McGowan’s account suspension came shortly after she told Ben Affleck to “f— off” over his remarks on Harvey Weinstein. She also claimed Affleck lied about his knowledge of the Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations against the disgraced movie mogul. After a backlash began brewing, Twitter released a series of tweets explaining that the Charmed actress was temporarily suspended because one of her tweets included a private phone number, which goes against the platform’s Terms of Service.

Various celebrities and online personalities slammed Twitter for silencing her voice and called out the platform’s apparent hypocrisy.

Ghostbusters director Paul Feig, for one, tweeted how President Trump “threatened to wipe out another country” with his tweets but did not get suspended. Others noted the seeming disconnect in Twitter’s policy as white supremacists and neo-Nazis are able to maintain their accounts, but McGowan tweeting a phone number is grounds for suspension.

“Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power,” a statement from Twitter read after McGowan’s account was restored. “We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices.”

McGowan boosted the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest on her own account. “MEN: if you are on here tomorrow, I urge you to AMPLIFY our voices,” she tweeted before going radio silent. “Call on your brothers to be better, go after ones who won’t. #ROSEARMY.”

See more celebrities joining the protest below.