Kirstie Alley Called Out for Comparing Twitter’s Ban of Trump to ‘Slavery’

“This censorship proves BIG TECH now holds the keys to the chains,” actress tweets

Kirstie alley trump
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Jennifer Maas

Kirstie Alley is being called out for comparing Twitter’s decision to ban President Donald Trump from the platform Friday to “slavery.”

On Saturday, the “Cheers” and “Veronica’s Closet” alum shared a tweet containing a statement made by American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Kate Ruane regarding the permanent suspension of Trump’s @realDonaldTrump account, in which she says, “it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions.”

“ALL people should be concerned is the KEY here,” Alley wrote in her own tweet. “It’s true, the average person will no longer have a platform to speak their views. This is called SLAVERY. This censorship proves BIG TECH now holds the keys to the chains.”

“No. This is a shocking minimization of the sheer vicious brutality of real slavery,” Patricia Arquette responded. “Children were sold away out of their parents arms. People were worked and beaten to death. Shackled. Women were raped. Couples were separated and sold. Shame on you.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “I just knew you were better than this….Are you that tone deaf.”

A third tweeter told Alley, “the closest to slavery you’ve ever been to slavery is your Weight Watchers’ contract,” adding: “Don’t ever cross this line again. This is your last warning. That unnecessary white woman hyperbole will no longer be tolerated and the consequences will be severe.”

But Alley also had supporters, one who tweeted: “I think that its very dangerous for Twitter to be the decision makers over whom can or whom cannot make a statement on twitter. Who are the arbiters of Twitter? They are not God, yet, to my knowledge?”

Another user who shared the actress’ point of view said, “free speech is meant to protect all speech, everywhere. the constitution is pissed on these days. big companies like apple use china slave labor but tell us what we can and cannot say.”

Alley, who has continuously voiced support for Trump in the past, went on to draw comparisons between MAGA supporters’ attack on the Capitol Wednesday — which was spurred by Trump’s own remarks of encouragement — and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests last summer.

“Remember this? Remember all the fires, killing, terrorizing, destruction and yes, at FEDERAL buildings?” Alley tweeted. “It was HIDEOUS & ILLEGAL.Remember how these criminals got FUNDED & bailed out? NO ONE WAS OUSTED FROM PLATFORMS including politicos who ENDORSED the VIOLENCE. Remember?”

In a subsequent tweet later Saturday morning, Alley called the siege on the Capitol “a treasonous criminal terrifying act” and said “those people should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

“I do not condone VIOLENCE, TREASON, CRIMINAL ACTS OR DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. This should suffice as my stance on Jan. 6th”

On Friday, Twitter said it banned Trump due to the “the risk of further incitement of violence.” The social media platform said two of Trump’s tweets on Friday violated their glorification of violence policy and pointed to “plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter,” including another proposed attack on the U.S. Capitol and other state capitol buildings on Jan. 17.

See Alley’s Saturday tweets regarding Twitter’s suspension of Trump and the Capitol riot below.

https://twitter.com/kirstiealley/status/1347885367945527298

Jennifer Maas

Jennifer Maas

TV Reporter • jennifer.maas@thewrap.com • Twitter: @jmaasaronson

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