Patrick Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images; Courtesy of Robert Cowherd
- Ex-Twitter manager Esther Crawford tweeted "cruelty is the worst" in an apparent dig at Elon Musk.
- Musk had accused a former director of using his disability as an "excuse" to do "no actual work."
- Crawford was reportedly laid off last month. She was seen as one of Musk's most loyal workers.
Esther Crawford, a Twitter manager who was widely seen as one of Elon Musk's most loyal employees before she was laid off last month, tweeted "cruelty is the worst" on Tuesday in what other users have seen as a possible dig at her former boss.
Elon Musk publicly clashed with Haraldur Thorleifsson, a former Twitter director, on Monday. After Thorleifsson tweeted that he was unsure of his employment status, noting that he had been locked out of company systems, Musk accused him of using his disability as an "excuse" to do "no actual work" — The Twitter CEO has since apologized for his comments and said that Thorleifsson "is considering remaining at Twitter."
Crawford tweeted on Tuesday that "cruelty is the worst," without providing further context. She also liked some tweets about the incident, including one from Thorleifsson describing the effects of his muscular dystrophy, another one about him opening a restaurant, and one saying that he "doesn't deserve this abuse."
Crawford had been known for her unwavering loyalty to Musk and was seen as an embodiment of his "hardcore" work culture. She was photographed sleeping on the office floor and reportedly defended Musk's first round of mass layoffs.
But last month, Crawford was let go from her role as director of product management as part of mass layoffs that affected the product team, among others, according to multiple reports. Though both Twitter and Crawford didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on the nature of her termination, Crawford has updated her Twitter bio to say that she no longer works at the company.
Platformer reported that Crawford had been among the managers included on a "do not fire" list.
Crawford had been criticized online for her dedication to Twitter and Musk.
"The worst take you could have from watching me go all-in on Twitter 2.0 is that my optimism or hard work was a mistake," she tweeted shortly after her departure from the company.