ITV Vera star sparks unlikely feud with Elon Musk as he takes drastic step against billionaire businessman
Kenny Doughty has sparked an unexpected feud with Elon Musk
PA/ITV
ITV Vera star Kenny Doughty has followed in the footsteps of many celebrities and users of X by deleting his account and moving over to Instagram and Threads.
The drastic step appears to be in opposition to Musk's "negativity" on the platform and the spread of misinformation that prompted the riots in the UK this month.
Musk clashed with Prime Minister Kier Starmer and accused the newly-appointed British leader of discriminatory "two-tiered" policing - as the ongoing riots continue to cause chaos across the country.
His post came after 10 Downing Street on Monday criticised comments by the billionaire and technology entrepreneur on his X platform, saying that he "does not speak for Britain".
Musk tweeted that "civil war is inevitable," in the UK, in response to a post claiming that "open borders and migration" had led to the protests.
The billionaire has since retweeted or commented under posts attacking UK authorities for arresting and charging suspects arrested for taking part in the riots.
In one response to a post that claimed that an "armed Muslim" patrol group had attacked civilians and a news network crew, Musk directly tweeted at Prime Minister Starmer, asking: "Why aren’t all communities protected?"
One of those users is Kenny Doughty, who played DS Aiden Healy on the show since season five, who recently posted on his Instagram account that he had finally decided to deactivate his profile.
Taking a screenshot of his profile, he captioned the post: "Goodbye X formerly Twitter. And BIG HELLO Threads & of course Instagram. Let’s make positivity & hope & fun our aim."
Fans of Doughty were thrilled to see he had left the social media platform as one user commented: "I got rid of X/Twitter last year and haven’t missed it for a second. Instagram is my fave at the moment - glad you’re staying on here Kenny."
"I’m so glad to see you here, Kenny! After Vera, I want to keep up with you!," another added before a third agreed: "I’m heading over to Threads now to follow you. It’s great over there, so much nicer."
Someone else said: "After Musky took it over, it’s not the same. Can’t stand that dude… Glad you’ll still be here."
Kenny Doughty announced his departure from the ITV series last year
PA
"Came off Twitter before it was X it was so toxic," one user noted before a sixth penned: "Good for you, doing it as well, cannot stand the toxic land Twitter has become."
Musk has faced criticism for failing to make the platform a safe space for its users due to its inability to stop the spread of misinformation.
The billionaire has also recently launched legal action against a string of companies after they stopped advertising on the social network.
He alleges the firms unlawfully conspired to boycott the site and caused it to lose "billions of dollars" in revenue, and filed a lawsuit in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers and member companies British multinational Unilever, food giant Mars, CVS Health and Danish renewable energy company Orsted.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT
Kenny Doughty still meets up with co-star Brenda Blethyn
Airing his frustrations, Musk bluntly wrote on X: "We tried peace for two years, now it is war." (sic)
Elsewhere, now that Vera star Doughty has stepped away from using the platform, the star will most likely receive messages from his fans on his Instagram begging him to return to the ITV series.
The final two episodes of the series are set to air in 2025 after Vera actor Brenda Blethyn announced she would be leaving the show after 13 years.
Announcing his departure in March 2023, he wrote alongside a montage of images of himself and Brenda: "After eight years and 35 Vera films, I've made the difficult decision of handing over DS Healy's badge. I can confirm I am leaving Vera.
"I want to thank everyone who's made this amazing time so joyous, ITV, Silverprint, all the brilliant cast and crew BUT of course my buddy and inspiration Brenda Blethyn. The perfect leading star who I owe so much to."