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Stephen King Wasn't Kicked Off Twitter for Elon Musk/First Lady Joke

On Wednesday, Stephen King cleared up rumors that Elon Musk kicked him off Twitter for making a joke about Musk being Trump's new first lady.

Well before Twitter overlord Elon Musk was named by incoming POTUS and convicted felon Donald Trump to co-head the "Department of Government Efficiency" with windup toy Vivek Ramaswamy (because nothing screams "efficiency" more than having two half-talents doing the work of one half-talent), he was getting into one-sided beefs with bestselling author Stephen King on a whole variety of issues. And every time, it would end the same way – King shows why he's a bestselling author while Musk's corniness factor scales new heights.

But ever since the election, there's been this two-headed rumor going around that Musk shut down King's Twitter account after King posted a joke about Musk being Trump's new "first lady." Well, King was back on Twitter this morning to let us know that he wasn't kicked off the social media service and that he never made the joke that's being attributed to him (not that he wouldn't have, though). "I see there's a rumor going around that I called the Musk-man Trump's new first lady. I didn't, but only because I didn't think of it," King posted on Wednesday morning. "There's also a rumor going around that Muskie kicked me off Twitter. Yet here I am."

Here's a look at King's tweet from earlier today, putting to rest both rumors:

Will Elon Musk REALLY Defend Stephen King & Freedom of Speech?

In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation into law that essentially gave folks who live in the state the right to call out any books being made available in school libraries that they consider objectionable. When that happens, the book in question is removed until a regulatory board meets to review the matter and determine if the book is suitable to be returned or remain removed. Just from that overview alone, you can see how easily the law can be abused – censorship in the name of "protecting kids."

PEN America is an organization charged with raising awareness of the need to protect freedom of expression in the United States and worldwide, advocating for the advancement of literature and human rights to help ensure that goal is achieved. In a recent report, the organization reported that Florida accounts for nearly 72% of the total number of texts that were pulled from U.S. school library shelves this year (3,135 of the 4,349 titles removed).

As a number of publishers look to challenge the law in court as being a violation of their First Amendment rights (a move that could prove daunting during the next Trump regime), the rundown of books that have been banned is jaw-dropping. As the report notes, the approximately 1,600 books removed in Escambia County include dictionaries, the Guinness Book of World Records, biographies of Oprah Winfrey and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and works from a number of bestselling authors – including 23 King novels (including Carrie, It, The Gunslinger, The Running Man, and The Long Walk).  The reporting wasn't lost on King, who took to Twitter at the end of August to call out what's been done to his works:

If Musk's previous offer to fund anyone looking to legally fight against having their freedom of expression trampled upon still stands, it looks like King might have some financial backing to take on DeSantis' law in court. It would only make sense since there's no way Musk would ever make those kinds of decisions based on political, ideological, and/or personal reasons – right? With Musk now sitting at the feet of Trump, it should be even easier for Musk to make sure that King's freedom of expression and creativity is protected.

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