With the MySpace and LinkedIn data breaches and the subsequent revelation of Mark Zuckerberg’s underwhelming, simplistic password — dadada — it seems like we’re all vulnerable to hacks. A number of musicians have fallen prey to hackers in the first half of 2016, from Drake to Katy Perry, with most barely blinking an eye.
Typically, celebrity hacks involve promotion of the hacker’s social media account and inflammatory, bigoted statements. All of that stands in stark contrast to the current crop of PR-trained (and generally liberal-leaning) musicians, so the vast majority of people who see a hacked Twitter account are no longer fooled by it. Five years ago, it was a shock — today, most people just shrug.
Katy Perry’s Twitter was hacked towards the end of May and filled with explicit messages and Twitter account promotion that didn’t fool her 89 million followers.
Trending on Billboard
It appears Katy Perry’s Twitter — with her more than 89 million followers — has been hacked… pic.twitter.com/VmTVKJYGqj
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) May 31, 2016
Missed opportunity from this Katy Perry hack:
“@taylorswift13 do u ever feel like a plastic bag?” pic.twitter.com/pgv5IxIGDF
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) May 31, 2016
Lana Del Rey, the enigmatic songstress whose Twitter presence is minimal, had her account dusted off by a rogue, offensive hacker — the same hacker who may have hacked Katy Perry in May if the lolsw4y/sw4ylol signature is anything to go by.
Uh oh, looks like someone hacked Lana Del Rey’s Twitter account. pic.twitter.com/YgHi7NrGr7
— virgil (@virgil9000) June 7, 2016
Tame Impala‘s hack went off the typical trolling script and went into dangerously terroristic territory, with the hacker sending bomb threats to the Malaysia Airlines account.
omg I’m pretty sure @tameimpala got hacked pic.twitter.com/5ZEN66DwDO
— dan@IWATOBI (@coachmakoto) June 5, 2016
Keith Richards‘ account fell victim to a similar hack with tweets about “blowing up planes.”
@twitter @RollingStones‘s Keith Richards’ account is hacked now. pic.twitter.com/daXy0eGdQr
— Kay (@FredPaulie) June 5, 2016
Drake‘s hacker was less dangerous, but no less annoying, focusing primarily on self-promotion and plugging his social media accounts to the rapper’s 33 million followers.
This guy @2aiden3 hacked Drake’s Twitter, don’t waste your time following him pic.twitter.com/LIhWcq9C5S
— Baddie (@xojosss) June 6, 2016
Tenacious D‘s hack led some to believe Jack Black had died, in the vein of the NFL and Roger Goodell death hoax.
I don’t think Jack Black is dead. I think the account has been hacked pic.twitter.com/r7osaV9H1k
— Martyn (@BadWilf) June 5, 2016
Bon Iver‘s Twitter handle was changed to @ihavelegcancer; the hacker proceeded to post inflammatory tweets about the recently passed Muhammad Ali.
somebody hacked Bon Iver’s account pic.twitter.com/1oLBN19I8Y
— Jesse (@jrd_1093) June 5, 2016
George Harrison’s hacker promised to hand over control of the account if the late Beatle reached out to him. Twitter swooped in to tell the clueless hacker that wouldn’t be happening any time soon.
George Harrison’s Twitter account was hacked but the hacker didn’t know he was dead pic.twitter.com/ZcvO76MDNa
— James Cook (@JamesLiamCook) June 7, 2016
Sonic Youth‘s hack gave music aficionados a sliver of hope that the band would reunite to play again… until the hacker went on to retweet photos of a random Twitter user and harass another.
Lol Sonic Youth got hacked. pic.twitter.com/cciThrkA0f
— robinson (@sneakysnooperz) June 8, 2016