No one is safe from hacking on Twitter, as many celebrities and businesses have seen their accounts compromised. When bizarre tweets were posted on Fadi Fawaz’s Twitter account, he explained that his account was hacked. Yet many doubted his claim.
On New Year’s Day, bizarre tweets were posted on Fadi’s account. The tweets claimed that “the only thing George wanted is to DIE” and that “he tired (sic) numbers of time to kill himself many times…”
Fadi said in a statement to Mirror Online
“I am shocked with what’s going on with the Twitter thing. My Twitter account has been hacked and closed. It’s a bit scary, to be honest. I did not send those tweets. I woke up at 11.30 am to the news. I am not going to worry about these things.”
Despite his explanations, Fadi was hounded by those who did not believe that his Twitter account was hacked. The most vocal of these was Andros Georgiou, an ex-music producer who grew up with George Michael until they fell out in 1998. Andros posted on Facebook what the tabloids refer as “emphatic rebuke of the claim:”
Hacking of Twitter accounts and posting malicious tweets on those accounts is not unusual. In fact, Fadi is not the only high-profile user whose Twitter account has been hacked. From Silicon Valley titans to actors to reality stars, there have been a number of celebrities whose Twitter accounts have been compromised and bizarre tweets were posted. Some of those whose Twitter accounts have been hacked recently include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Keith Richards, Katy Perry, Kylie Jenner, among others.
Even businesses have not been spared on Twitter. In December 2016, Sony Music’s Twitter account was hacked the second time (first was in 2014) and posted that Britney Spears died (“Britney Spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney.”). The official Twitter account of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States was also hacked and falsely tweeted that the Commissioner Roger Goodell died.
While in some cases the hackers came forward to claim responsibility for the hacking, the perpetrators of many Twitter hacking incidents remain unknown.
In Fadi’s case, January 1 break-in was the second time his Twitter account was hacked. The first time was way back in February 2012. Fadi posted that his Twitter account was compromised after he was alerted by his friends. He apologized to friends who received strange Private Messages (PM) from him. See the screenshot below:
Twitter has a well-known hacking problem. Despite this, the press write-ups that ensued cast doubts on Fadi’s claim that his Twitter was hacked and bolstered his positioning as the bad guy in the death of George Michael.
