Elon Musk pays for few celebrities to retain their Twitter blue ticks

Twitter boss Elon Musk admitted that he is paying for some prominent Twitter accounts to retain their blue ticks after the social media giant removed the blue checkmark verification from social media accounts that had not paid a monthly fee to keep it. Numerous high-profile accounts including celebrities, politicians, and others lost their blue verification checkmark.

Twitter also dropped the government-funded labels which imply government involvement in editorial content, from the accounts of various global media organisations includingUS-based National Public Radio (NPR), British Broadcasting Corp, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

On Friday (April 21), Musk said that he was paying for the Twitter accounts of Canadian actor William Shatner, author Stephen King and basketball legend LeBron James.

In a tweet, Twitter Daily News said that some celebrities were offered a complimentary blue tick on behalf of Musk, to which he replied, "I’m paying for a few personally."
"Just Shatner, LeBron and King," he then said in a reply to a tweet by Pop Base.

The three celebrities have been critics of the blue tick fees and have previously complained about the move on Twitter.

Last month, LeBron James tweeted that he was not paying for the blue tick. "Welp guess my blue will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5," James tweeted on March 31.

And according to a report by the Verge on Thursday, a Twitter employee mailed the basketball star to extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue on behalf of Elon Musk.

Author Stephen King, meanwhile,was baffled that he was a Twitter Blue subscriber.

"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," King tweeted on Friday to which Elon Musk said, "You’re welcome namaste."

Under the original blue-check system, Twitter had roughly 400,000 verified users. And in the past, these checks meant that Twitter had verified that users were who they said they were.

But the removal of the verification mark public agencies and other organisations around the world scrambling to figure out a way to show that they are trustworthy and avoid impersonators. Several agencies are awaiting more clarity from Twitter in this matter.

According to a report by the news agency Associated Press on Friday, the removal of the verification remark has raised concerns that Twitter could lose its status as a platform for getting accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.

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