Xavier Dolan leaves Twitter, where celeb exchanges can get heated

According to the screengrab image, Dolan posted that he found himself “drawn to hateful debates” he’d “rather ignore” on the platform. (Photo By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0)

TORONTO — Amid headlines over a heated Twitter exchange between Nicki Minaj and a Canadian writer, Montreal actor-filmmaker Xavier Dolan has left the social media platform, apparently in a bid to avoid such a scenario.

On Wednesday, his account was no longer available and many fans had posted a screengrab image purportedly of his final tweet announcing his decision to leave Twitter.

According to the screengrab image, Dolan posted that he found himself “drawn to hateful debates” he’d “rather ignore” on the platform.

He’s still keeping his Instagram account where he “can focus on what matters: Harry Styles’ outfits on tour,” adds the post.

A representative for Dolan didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Dolan’s move comes after Minaj made headlines for a controversial response to Toronto writer Wanna Thompson’s tweet.

Thompson posted on her Twitter account ?WannasWorld that she received death threats after Minaj chimed in to her June 29 tweet, in which she criticized the rapper’s musical direction.

“You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content?” Thompson wrote in the June 29 post, which she deleted but later reposted in a screengrab.

The post went on to say she’d like to see Minaj “just reflecting on past relationships, being a boss, hardships, etc. She’s touching 40 soon, a new direction is needed.”

The 35-year-old Minaj indirectly replied to Thompson that same day by tweeting out a list of her more mature songs. That prompted Minaj’s fans to attack Thompson on Twitter.

Thompson later posted a screengrab and a video of what she said were direct messages sent to her by Minaj containing expletive-laden language.

The New York Times reported Thompson was let go from her internship at an entertainment blog after the Minaj incident and is now “mentally depleted” and considering seeing a therapist.

Requests for comment from Thompson were not returned Thursday.

Public relations guru Natasha Koifman, president of NKPR in Toronto, said she has a simple rule for her high-profile and celebrity clients when it comes to wanting to engage in heated exchanges on social media.

“Don’t,” Koifman said. “If you’re feeling that anger or if you’re anxious about it, you really should sleep on it and the next day you probably wouldn’t feel the same.”

Minaj has a huge influence with over 21 million Twitter followers and should not have responded at all, she added.

“The result of it was horrible,” Koifman said.

“She really should have issued some kind of a statement to, at the very least, have all of her followers just leave this girl alone.”

Despite such incidents, Koifman said more celebrities are embracing social media, noting Julia Roberts just joined Instagram.

“Celebrities are realizing that it’s not going away and they’re realizing that it’s a necessary tool to build their brand,” Koifman said.

“Often when they’re in the casting studios, people want actresses and actors that have a high following because they can actually influence box office. So the trend is only getting bigger.

“You just want to make sure that it’s being used in a healthy way. You’re not always going to get positive comments. You just need to make sure that you don’t respond to them.”