Is that really Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell on Twitter? If not, can celebrities stop these impostors?--C.J, via in the inbox
You definitely have not been reading the authentic comic stylings of Will Ferrell, so sayeth his reps. And it's doubtful we're looking at an authentic Brad Pitt either, given that the A-lister prefers to utter his thoughts unto us mortals via Vanity Fair and W. As for the impostors, well, here's their likely fate:
Death!
Or maybe just banishment from Twitter. More likely the latter.
First, a briefing: A Twitterer going by @realbradpitt emerged on the social media site a few days--right around the same time that a @willyferrell popped up to promote the Pitt account.
"Everybody follow @REALBRADPITT," the Tweet shrieked. "He just made a Twitter, my personal favorite actor!!!"
Grammar and usage aside, it's safe to say that the statement rang a tad false. Since then, we've learned that Ferrell, in fact, has no Twitter account. At all. (Pitt's people didn't return several requests for comment. In the meantime, @realbradpitt seems to have disappeared. So has @willyferrell. The same person? Likely.)
As for Twitter, it has a policy that specifically addresses impostors--of celebrities, of civilians. Doesn't matter. Twitter usually requires a complaint from the real person before the fake can be ousted--"Twitter processes impersonation reports from the user being impersonated or someone legally authorized to act on behalf of the user/entity"--but it's unclear whether Pitt actually sicced someone on @realbradpitt or not.
If the impostor had displayed a more deft sense of humor, he or she may have been able to hold on to that account. Twitter frowns upon impostors intending deliberate deceit--but it has no problem with parody accounts.