Stephen King, Elon Musk haggle over Twitter verification pricing after author says 'F*** that' to initiative

After reports emerged that the new Elon Musk-led regime at Twitter will charge verified users $20 per month to keep or even obtain the blue tick, the overall reaction from those who possess the badge has been negative. Many have argued that if anybody could get a blue tick, the verification system will be rendered meaningless. For it was designed to substantiate the veracity of handles of notable people, including celebrities, intellectuals, journalists, and so on, and if the reports are true, trolls will reign supreme. Veteran American author Stephen King, lovingly called the king of horror by his fans, is also among those disgruntled by the reports suggesting in the future verified users may beasked to pay for the benefits.

We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

The author of landmark horror novels like 'The Shining', 'Carrie', 'It', and 'The Stand' tweeted in his trademark blunt style, "$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron." Enron was a Houston, Texas based energy, commodities, and services company that went defunct in 2001.

Unlike most people complaining about the reports, however, Musk took the time to respond to King. "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?" he replied.

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In another reply, Musk wrote, "I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls."

At the time of writing, King has yet to respond to Musk.

Ever since Musk acquired Twitter on October 27, many celebrities and activists have either quit or threatened to do so.