Elon Musk is ‘personally’ paying for William Shatner, LeBron James and Stephen King to keep their verified blue ticks on Twitter.
This comes after ‘legacy’ check marks, which were instated prior to the billionaire’s takeover of the platform, were removed from profiles yesterday.
Now, the only way to have a coveted tick is to sign up for Twitter Blue – the £11 or $11-a-month subscription service.
James and King have both publicly stated that they do not pay for this, but Mr Musk tweeted that he has gifted it to them regardless.
This has caused outrage, as the Twitter CEO said that the reason for the removal of legacy badges was to do away with the ‘lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark’.
Musk also clarified in a tweet that it was ‘just Shatner, LeBron and King’ who would receive this preferential treatment
Musk also clarified in a tweet that it was ‘just Shatner, LeBron and King’ who would receive this preferential treatment.
‘So much for equal treatment,’ said Twitter user @santos_wallace.
@JoeyMannarinoUS added: ‘I could stand to save $8 a month. Wanna pay mine? I’m not a celebrity.’
‘Shouldn’t you add “Elon funded media” to these accounts,’ @JamesLimmer joked.
This is in reference to how ‘government-funded media’ badges have been added to the accounts of some western news outlets, including the BBC.
Musk has previously said that he is ‘a fan of’ legendary horror author Stephen King, after the two had a brief spat on Twitter in November.
King has been openly disdainful of Musk charging users for a verification checkmark in order to make the company more profitable.
Yesterday evening, he noticed that the banner that appears once you clicked on the blue tick on his profile had changed.
It used to read: ‘This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable’.
This was the same for all legacy badge holders.
But it now reads: ‘This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number’
King tweeted: ‘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 was quick to respond with ‘You’re welcome namaste’, insinuating the apparent Twitter Blue subscription was a personal gift.
William Shatner, an actor best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, was the same.
‘I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?’ he tweeted after Musk announced the fee.
The South African billionaire responded, somewhat ironically, saying that there shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities.
‘It’s more about treating everyone equally,’ he tweeted.
King tweeted: ‘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 was quick to respond with ‘You’re welcome namaste’, insinuating the apparent Twitter Blue subscription was a personal gift
Shatner also recently poked fun at Musk during a segment on the Daily Show, calling him a ‘supervillain’ and ‘part Thomas Edison, part Iron Man, part annoying dude in the group chat’.
But Musk is a clear fan of his, congratulating his bitter rival Jeff Bezos after he sent the now 92-year-old actor into space in 2021 on his Blue Origin rocket.
It is a similar story for basketball star LeBron James, who tweeted that he ‘ain’t paying the 5’ for Twitter Blue on March 31.
This was the day before the legacy checkmarks were due to be removed from profiles the first time, but did not end up happening.
Journalist Matt Binder noted that, in a now-deleted tweet from April 2, Mr Musk said those with legacy checkmarks will have ‘a few weeks grace’.
It is a similar story for basketball star LeBron James, who tweeted that he ‘ain’t paying the 5’ for Twitter Blue on March 31. He thought that Twitter Blue cost $5 at the time
Indeed, The Washington Post reported that efforts to remove legacy blue ticks could take a long time due to significant manual elements in the process.
But Musk did begin taking down the legacy tick marks of accounts which specifically say ‘they won’t pay now’, including the New York Times.
On April 11, the Twitter CEO announced that the ‘final date’ for removing these ticks would actually be April 20.
King appeared thrilled by the announcement, tweeting: ‘Big whoop.’
On April 11, the Twitter CEO announced that the ‘final date’ for removing these ticks would actually be April 20
King appeared thrilled by the announcement, tweeting: ‘Big whoop.
It is believed the date is a sly reference to cannabis, with the number 420 the time of day that it is traditionally smoked.
The billionaire was famously filmed smoking the drug during a live podcast in 2018, alongside comedian Joe Rogan.
But, according to a report from The Verge, a Twitter employee emailed James ‘to extend a complimentary subscription… on behalf of Elon Musk.’
The Twitter CEO tweeted out Thursday evening in response to the report: ‘I’m paying for a few personally.’
It initially appeared LeBron James chose to pay money to stay verified on Twitter
Though, Elon Musk soon dispelled that as nothing more than a myth while replying to a report
Musk has said that allowing verification through Twitter Blue was an effort to do away with what he saw as a ‘lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark’.
Before Musk’s regime, a blue tick was given out by Twitter for free to verify high-profile accounts, proving they were authentic and distinguishing them from impostors.
But when Twitter Blue was first rolled out in November, users were quick to take advantage of the opportunity to essentially buy this symbol of authenticity.
Accounts impersonating famous people and corporations, including Mr Musk himself, flooded the platform.
One user fooled others into thinking former US President Donald Trump tweeted: ‘This is why Elon Musk’s plan doesn’t work.’
Another account impersonated former President George W Bush – who appeared to post a distasteful tweet about Iraq – and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
This forced the second richest man in the world to halt the verification process, but not before advertisers pulled their contracts.
Twitter Blue was relaunched the following month, with new systems to denote different types of verified accounts, like multi-coloured checkmarks.
Gold ticks denoted verified business accounts, while grey ticks denoted accounts which represent a government institution or official.
While the new system caused widespread confusion, it did not require organisations with legacy check marks to pay for a subscription service in order to keep it.
But this is no longer the case, and users who wish to remain verified will have to cough up the cash for Twitter Blue.
Twitter Blue currently costs £9.60 in the UK ($8 in US) a month for web access, and £11 ($11 in the US) a month to use with Apple iOS.
This is thought to be to account for the ‘hidden 30% tax’ applied to in-app purchases within those hosted by Apple.
Organisations in the USA have to pay a cool $1,000 a month to receive a gold or grey verification tick, while the price for UK organisations is £1,140.
Another £60, or $50, monthly charge is added on top if the business want to add an ‘affiliate badge’ to their profile, which links to the account of an associated brand.
Despite this, at the end of last month, the New York Times claimed that Twitter plans to give free blue ticks to the 500 companies that spend the most on advertising, and the 10,000 with the most followers.
His moves to pressure more users into paying for the platform came after news that it is now worth less than half of what he paid for it six months ago, but he has since confirmed the company is ‘roughly breaking even’.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
