Twitter executive cries during staff meeting over Elon Musk takeover

Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde, head of the tech giant's trust and safety, legal, and public policy functions, held a meeting Monday where she cried to employees who work under her amid recent changes to company leadership.

A new report says Twitter's top lawyer got emotional with staff when talking about how unclear things were, beyond the immediate future.

According to POLITICO, Gadde got teary-eyed on Monday when discussing Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. Gadde is said to have played a crucial role in the negotiations between Musk and Twitter's board for finalizing the deal.

In her briefing with staffers, Gadde had a similar message to what CEO Parag Agrawal told employees when it came to uncertainty for the company's future.

"Gadde cried during the meeting as she expressed concerns about how the company could change, according to three people familiar with the meeting. She acknowledged that there are significant uncertainties about what the company will look like under Musk's leadership," POLITICO described.

On Tuesday afternoon, Musk, a free speech advocate, commented further about what his exact vision of free speech is.

The relevance in Gadde's case comes from the platform's rules. She's a key member of Twitter, working at the company since 2011 in their trust and safety, public policy, and legal departments. When it comes to the nitty-gritty of what's considered "hate speech" and harassment, Gadde oversaw definitions that came about amid Twitter's "healthy conversation" agenda.

Employees voiced their "appreciation" for Gadde's work following Monday's announcement of Musk's Twitter buy.

In March 2019, journalist Tim Pool appeared on Joe Rogan's popular podcast to debate with then-CEO Jack Dorsey and Gadde about the tenacity of Twitter's rules. The platform had recently introduced a series of "deadnaming" policies around transgender people, which was a topic of their conversation.

History came full-circle in that aspect, seeing as how The Babylon Bee's ban from Twitter under those pretenses is what ultimately inspired Musk to buy out the platform.

What was discussed on the Rogan podcast resurfaced earlier this month, especially as it pertained to the topic of vaccine policies.

In late 2020, Gadde had Twitter "change course" after initially blocking the bombshell story from the New York Post about Hunter Biden's laptop. Her team also oversaw the permanent banning of former President Donald Trump in January 2021, following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 of that year.

In that case, CNN credits Gadde for taking the main lead on the Trump-ban matter as Dorsey was away on vacation during that time.