Elon Musk has (re-)enacted Twitter’s new policy of pay-to-play blue checkmarks, and he seems to be trolling a few of the celebrities who spoke out the loudest against the policy change, by leaving their blue checkmarks intact. writer Stephen King, NBA star LeBron James, Star Trek icon William Shatner, and rapper/actor ICE T were all celebs that users spotted as possible targets of Musk and Twitter’s trolling when Twitter Blue launched:
Videos by ComicBook.com
Twitter has kept the checkmarks for celebs who publicly criticized Twitter Blue and Elon Musk
— From the Drafts 📱 (@fromthedraftsco) April 20, 2023
• LeBron James
• William Shatner
• Stephen King
• ICE T
Seems like it was done to set them up to be trolled by users who think they paid for it pic.twitter.com/rNzOLDZfKQ
Stephen King was the quickest to speak up, with a tweet that seems to confirm suspicions that this is being done intentionally, to some individuals being specifically targeted by Twitter: “MyTwitteraccountsaysI’vesubscribedtoTwitterBlue.Ihaven’t,” King wrote in this tweet. “MyTwitteraccountsaysI’vegivenaphonenumber.Ihaven’t.”
ICE T followed King soon thereafter, tweeting, “Hey. Maybe it’ll disappear soon.. F it.”
Why Some Celebrities Still Have Blue Check Marks On Twitter, Explained
At the time of writing this, we can confirm that Stephen King, LeBron James, William Shatner, and ICE T all still have their “verified” blue checkmarks on Twitter.
If you don’t understand the implications here: all four of the celebs mentioned above spoke out against Twitter and its new paid-verification system; ergo, it seems that Elon Musk and/or Twitter’s gatekeepers are keeping blue checkmarks on the accounts of those same dissidents as a trolling way of discrediting them. The logic of the trolling is that people will see egotistical hypocrite celebrities who spoke out, but then refused to lose their blue checkmark clout by turning around and paying for one.
While this all may be played off like a joke later, it’s actually kind of disturbing – the sort of thing an espionage agency or rogue government would do as a smear campaign. But, with Twitter now controlled by one man’s interests above all others, no strange twist should be too surprising anymore…
Musk snatched blue checkmarks away from thousands of Twitter accounts today, even as debate about this new system of “verification” on Twitter continues to rage as it is rolled out (again). On the one hand, there are some who think that Musk’s stated goal of a more egalitarian social media platform is a noble one. On the other hand, there are those who think distinguishing the profiles of celebrities or other official figures from the noise of standard Twitter accounts is a very necessary feature.
Then, there are those who think Twitter should be paying a premium to celebrities, to keep them active on platform, which increases overall engagement.
Where do you stand?
