According to variety, it looks like the squeaky wheel gets the Twitter blue check-mark.
Following Twitter’s mass revocation on Thursday of thousands of “legacy” verified blue check-marks, fulfilling owner Elon Musk’s long-held promise to “corrupt” the system, several high-profile accounts are still coveted Had blue badges. Even though they are apparently not paying for Twitter Blue (the subscription service whose perks now include a blue check-mark).
These included NBA superstar LeBron James, actor William Shatner and author Stephen King — each of whom tweeted that they would not pay for Twitter Blue or complained about Musk’s switch to the verification program.
Elon Musk later said that he was “personally” paying for Twitter Blue on behalf of James, Shatner and King. Musk, who serves as the CEO of Twitter as well as Tesla and SpaceX, is currently netted north of $173 billion. (It’s unclear whether Musk is actually paying his own company for those subscriptions or if Twitter is just waiving the fees.)
On Thursday, King expressed confusion about the situation, tweeting, “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.” Musk later replied to him, “You’re welcome Namaste 🙏.”
In October 2022, King responded to an earlier report that Twitter was charging $20/month for blue check-marks, writing, “Fuck them, they should pay me. If it gets established , so I’m gone like Enron.” The great horror writer said, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing.” Kasturi told King at the time, “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter can’t depend entirely on advertisers. How about $8 [per month]?”
James tweeted on March 31: “Your guessing my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause I ain’t paying 5. 🤷🏾♂️ if you know me.” And Shatner tweeted at Musk, “Hey @ElonMusk until we make Twitter pay, how about blue checks? I’ve been here for 15 years giving my ⏰ more witty ideas to bookies.” . Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this – Columbia Records & Tape Club?🙄”
In addition to James, King, and Shatner, other celebrities with massive Twitter followings — including Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, and Miley Cyrus — also continue to display the verified blue check-mark. It is unclear whether these accounts are paying for Twitter Blue or if Twitter is paying them as well.
Ice-T, the actor and music artist, still has a verified blue check-mark on Twitter for some reason. He thinks the whole topic is quite ridiculous. “The fact that we are even discussing the blue check mark is a sad moment in society. Smh lol,” he tweeted on Thursday.
Among other reactions, Ben Stiller tweeted, “No blue check, still feels like me.” Grover from Sesame Street also commented on the loss of his blue badge. “My sweet love blue checkmark is gone, but I, your love love blue monster, am still here!” the character told his 190,000 Twitter fans.
”Stephen King is confused why he still has a blue check mark on Twitter: “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t.” It turns out Elon Musk is personally paying for it.”