Singer David Draiman of heavy metal’s Disturbed had enough of trolls, quits Twitter

David Draiman may not be a household name unless you’re into heavy metal music. But the frontman for the band, Disturbed, was very active on Twitter and had a sizeable following. However, he recently decided to give it all up, permanently quitting the social network. The reason, according to Draiman, is because trolls.

Draiman is the son of Israelis and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and he used his Twitter profile and fame to tweet support for Israel with regard to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict in the Middle East, as well as defending the faith from attackers.

Today, though, @davidmdraiman just goes to the usual “Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!” message. A cached version of his now-deleted account shows that he had a sizeable following of 154,000.

Not all of his followers are as pro-Israel as he is, which sometimes led to heated exchanges between him and some of his followers who had an issue with his stance. That also brought out the anti-Semitic trolls, who, according to Draiman, would prey on him and constantly attack him.

He told Loudwire that social media’s just a playground for trolls these days. Because of it, it’s impossible to get anything done anymore, which is why he’s quitting the site. He does hope that people appreciated his pro-Israel activism over the last couple of years. He also seemed to refocus on his true purpose in life: to make music and make people happy that way.

Coincidentally, Disturbed’s new album, Immortalized, hits stores on August 21, but Draiman denied that his quitting Twitter was a publicity stunt to create headlines right before the new album comes out.

Draiman isn’t the first celebrity who’s been driven off Twitter by trolls. Just a few months ago, Avengers director Joss Whedon quit Twitter after receiving a torrent of hateful tweets from people angry about his depiction of Black Widow in the movie. While reports suggest feminists were behind this effort, Whedon denied that was the case.