Elon Musk pays to keep some celebrities from losing their Twitter verification

Yesterday, Twitter An old check is being charged to limit the blue badge for those who follow Twitter Blue. But what’s really interesting is that Elon Musk decided to pay so that a handful of celebrities do not lose verification. Such are the cases of LeBron James, William Shatner and Stephen King.

The choice of the “privileged”, who today retain their status of verified, is not accidental. Both an NBA star and an actor from Star Trek and famous writer were among the main critics when it was announced that Twitter would charge for maintaining the blue checkmark on accounts verified with the previous system.

In fact, all three have mentioned several times that they won’t be paying $8 a month for Twitter Blue. Not because they couldn’t do it, but because the idea seemed ridiculous to them. A situation that even caused public dissatisfaction with Elon Musk.

Many people remember that Elon Musk’s original idea was to charge $20 a month to check Twitter. Nevertheless, lowered the price in response to a complaint posted by Stephen King on Twitter.. “$20 a month to keep my blue badge? Fuck it, they should pay me. If this is established, I will disappear like Enron,” the writer wrote at the end of October 2022. The tycoon’s answer was not long in coming: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely solely on advertisers. How about $8?”

Meanwhile, claims by William Shatner and LeBron James came in in March. “I’ve been here for 15 years wasting my time and smart thoughts. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for what you gave me for free?” the actor wrote. To which Elon Musk replied that, in his opinion, the problem is actually related to the attitude “to all equally.”

At the same time, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball player also admitted that he would not pay for Twitter Blue. “Looks like my blue badge will be gone soon because they know I won’t pay 5,” he tweeted, referring to the episode Martin, sitcom from the 1990s by Martin Lawrence.

Despite complaints, both LeBron and Stephen King and William Shatner maintain their verified mark and appear as Twitter Blue followers. Because? Because Elon Musk decided to pay for them.

Why Elon Musk pays to keep some celebrities from losing what they tweeted

Elon Musk confirmed who chose to “personally pay” for some Twitter Blue subscriptions, though later refined which did so only in the cases of Shatner, King and James. The mogul did not give details on why he did it, and in fact it seems that some of those involved they were not even informed about this situation.

Stephen King, for example, tweeted yesterday: “My Twitter account says I followed Twitter Blue. This is wrong. My Twitter account says I gave my phone number. I didn’t.” To which Musk replied: “Please, Namaste.”

In the case of LeBron James edge confirmed that a Twitter employee recently contacted him via email to say that the company intends to “renew your free Twitter Blue subscription for your @kingjames account on behalf of Elon Musk.”

As with everything that happens to the CEO of Twitter, don’t go looking too deep for him. It is likely that the mogul was trying to patch things up with celebrities. Or maybe it’s just trollingwanting to show that, in the end, the check maintenance fee wasn’t a big issue or cause for so many complaints.

However, the situation is still paradoxical. Elon Musk’s big gripe with Twitter’s old verification system was that he thought it was too arbitrary. And now the businessman himself arbitrarily verifies. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Reactions to say goodbye to the old tried and tested

When the removal of the blue badges from the old verified ones was made official, Twitter was flooded with complaints and complaints about Elon Musk from those affected. Although there was also a lot of criticism of those who “exposed” for paying for the service. However, some – both on the one hand and on the other – reacted to this with humor.

“I am a fake account,” he tweeted. ebaywhich is no longer verified.

“No blue accent. I still feel like myself,” said the actor. Ben Stiller.

Joanna Sternfamous journalist from Wall Street Magazine, wrote: “Today is that day. When you guys find out I’m paying for Twitter Blue. Please don’t hate me.” Although he later admitted that he signed up from day one.

youtuber Marques Brownlee he chose the meme to illustrate his situation as he is also a Twitter Blue follower. “I understand that I will now be judged by the blue badge, but I have to accept it because I still need the edit button. [de tuits]”, he assured.

Like it or not, Elon Musk’s plan with Twitter Blue and its chaotic verification has taken a decisive step. Let’s see what other changes the tycoon has in mind..