Talib Kweli Suspended From Twitter For "Repeated Violations"

For those of you not keeping up with Talib Kweli or his Twitter moves, the rap legend has been angering a few folks over of the microblogging site. In early July, the video of Lil Wayne and 50 Cent was making its way through Twitterverse when a user asked the general public what rappers have married Black women aside from Snoop Dogg. Another random person sent off a list of names that included Jay-Z, Killer Mike, Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper, 2 Chainz, and Talib Kweli. A 24-year-old woman named Maya Moody replied to the tweet by touching on the topic of colorism. "Literally almost all of them are married to lightskinned women but that’s a conversation for another day.” It was a random response that lit Twitter ablaze.

Talib Kweli saw Maya's response and was ired by her message. “Nah let’s have this convo today," he replied. "Are we talking all of my relationships? My children’s mother as well? Or are you only talking about who you think I’m currently in a relationship right now? I mean, is any of this really any of your business?” Then, the music icon went through her old tweets and resurfaced them in an attempt to discredit her. According to a lengthy, detailed, thorough exposé by Jezebel, Kweli would pen tweets directed at Maya for upwards of 12 hours a day at times.

He reportedly accused her of being associated with Nazis and then the rapper's fans doxxed her and her family. Their addresses, photos, workplaces, and salaries were shared. People began threatening Maya, as well. Jezebel reached out to Talib Kweli about the controversy, and he said, “Maya Moody is a liar. I’ve never cyber harassed anyone in my life. I responded, on Twitter, to the lies that Maya posted about me. When you respond to someone who posts lies about you, that is not harassment.”

This went on for weeks, including the rapper sharing screenshots over on his Instagram page. Maya also brought up past accusations against Keli from women who stated he made unwarranted sexual advances—something that he adamantly denies. She made a few petty moves by changing her Twitter header, but it didn't take long for her to realize he wasn't letting up. He got in IG Live and complained about Maya and even started discussions on his Facebook page. Then, in late July, he made an announcement on IG that he was done with Twitter. However, a spokesperson for Twitter told Pitchfork that Kweli was permanently booted for violating its rules.

"The account has been permanently suspended after repeated violations of the Twitter rules. Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. Violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves, and ultimately diminish the value of global public conversation. Our rules are to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely."

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