Stephen King slams Elon Musk again, saying he preferred Twitter before the billionaire took over: 'Less controversy, more fun.'

• Stephen King has continued his feud with Elon Musk, saying he preferred Twitter in "pre-Musk days."
• King said the platform was "more fun" and had "less controversy" before the takeover.

Stephen King has slammed Elon Musk's Twitter again, saying he preferred the platform before the world's richest man took over.

The award-winning novelist said on Thursday: "I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days. Less controversy, more fun."

In a now-deleted tweet, Musk replied saying: "I'm still a fan of you tbh." He later deleted this response and replied with a ghost emoji.

The novelist and billionaire have been sparring on social media since Musk's Twitter takeover.

Last week, King criticized Musk's plans to charge for Twitter's blue tick verification. He said he would leave the platform if the changes were brought in: "If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron."

Other celebrities including Lynda Carter and Josh Gad have criticized the introduction of the proposed $8 verification fee.

King also took to the platform to compare Musk with a fictional character who cons his friends.

He said: "Musk makes me think of Tom Sawyer, who is given the job of whitewashing a fence as punishment. Tom cons his friends into doing the chore for him, and getting them to pay for the privilege. That's what Musk wants to do with Twitter. No, no, no."

After Twitter's new verification system launched on Wednesday, it was almost instantly seized by trolls impersonating public figures. Accounts that pretended to be LeBron James, George W. Bush, and O.J. Simpson appeared on the site, with some posting offensive messages.