Last Friday, two pranksters wanting to mislead journalists posed as if they were leaving the Twitter HQ in San Francisco. It was so stark that Elon Musk had to give his two cents on the joke after buying the platform.
Two Pranksters Pose as Fired Twitter Employees
Following Elon Musk's acquisition of sole ownership of the social media behemoth, the two individuals waited outside, acting as fired employees.
Immediately CNBC journalist Deirdre Bosa went to interview the fake duo with cardboard boxes in hand, reported Republic World. She asked their names; one said Daniel Johnson, and the other said Rahul Ligma, and the network was later mocked online.
The report added that the fired employees from Twitter included the two from the data engineer team. Daniel explained how he plans to use his Tesla and mentioned Bosa on social media.
Later, it emerged that the CNBC report had been played and made a fool of by the two pranksters. Netizens from both spectrums finally got the 'Ligma' term, which was a slur intended for liberals, according to Business Today.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk responded, "Ligma Johnson had it coming."
The flabbergasted CNBC network was dismayed when their reporter failed to identify that the two were posing as ex-Twitter workers. Bosa later stated, after getting hoodwinked by the two, that if they were employees in her defense.
Prank Infuriates Twitter Management
Twitter product manager Paul Lee gave his opinion on the prank and was upset that it was misinformation duping CNBC on the first day of Musk's takeover, citing One India.
Lee added that all they needed to see was the platform logo in the boxes to assume they were employees, causing shock. He also stated that employees don't use Zoom in conferences, which shows they were fake employees, costing the management face.
These bogus Twitter employees and their prank come as many platform employees fear losing their high-paying jobs due to the Tesla billionaire's 44-billion takeover bid, which will eliminate liberal censorship.
One article by the Washington Post stated that Musk would depopulate the old employees by 75%, though the new CEO did not verify the claim.
Other members of the press and media outfits have posted something about the two jokesters with alleged Twitter boxes that duped CNBC, mentioned Mashable.
The top post came from CNBC's Bosa, who approached "Ligma Johnson" thinking they were data engineers without verification. This a controversial note for those getting the joke's gist, which refers to the male anatomy part, to put it sneakily. The tone of 'Ligma Johnson' sounds like 'lick my...' which is a juvenile joke. But some pundits let the joke sink instead.
The Verge even tried to look for 'Ligma' on Twitter; sources say that Ligma showed a picture of Michelle Obama saying, "She wouldn't have happened if Elon Musk owned Twitter."
In the end, the two pranksters called 'Ligma Johnson' were revealed to be posing as fired Twitter employees, as fears of actual employees remain after Elon Musk got hold of the platform.