The mystery surrounding LeBron James’ blue checkmark on Twitter has been answered. Elon Musk has stated that he is paying for verification for a few celebrities amid the social media app’s purge of the blue checkmarks.
Ahead of the scheduled purge of the blue checkmarks, LeBron tweeted, “Welp guess my blue [checkmark] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5.” However, as of Thursday, April 20, the day when the social media app began revoking celebrities’ unpaid verification, the NBA star still keeps his.
His page specifically states that he still has the check because he’s “subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” Amid speculation that the Los Angeles Lakers star has probably conformed to the new rule, his rep tells The Verge that his account is not subscribed to Twitter Blue.
Elon has since set the record straight as he reacted to the report about LeBron’s blue checmark. “I’m paying for a few personally,” he tweeted on Thursday.
It appears that the 51-year-old business magnate is trolling some public figures who have spoken up against paying for the social media app. Author Stephen King, who refuses to pay for the social media app’s verification, also still has his checkmark.
“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” the 75-year-old writer insisted. “My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
After purchasing Twitter for $44 billion, Elon has announced he’s charging folks $8 a month for subscriptions that come with blue checkmarks. On Thursday, he followed through with the plans by removing the blue checks on the official accounts of such celebrities as Beyonce Knowles, Lady GaGa and Kim Kardashian as they don’t seem to be willing to pay the few extra bucks for the verification marks.
And many of them didn’t seem to be bothered about losing the checkmarks. Halle Berry posted a meme of a cartoon character crying over her Twitter account, which would lose its verification. She captioned it with two face with tears of joy emojis.
Ciara claimed, “Blue check or no check… I know my fans still checkin.” Doja Cat previously said, “Having a blue tick now means theres a higher chance that you’re a complete loser and that you’re desperate for validation from famous people.”
Wiz Khalifa responded, “Y’all mf’s out here worried about the wrong check,” as The Game similarly noted, “Check gone but the checks still comin.” Meanwhile, Alyssa Milano warned Elon of the potential repercussion of his action, “So by revoking my blue check mark because I wouldn’t pay some arbitrary fee, someone can just be me and say a bunch of bulls**t. Does that mean Twitter and @elonmusk are liable for defamation or identify theft or fraud?”
