Elon Musk has finally purged the unpaid “legacy” blue checks from Twitter, a goal of his since shortly after he took control of the company and social platform in October. This, ostensibly, means that any users who still have a verification badge are paying for Twitter Blue, the premium version of the app — and their profiles are labeled as subscribed to the service.
While many celebrities and public figures lost their check rather than paying the $8 a month to keep it ($11 if you’re buying through iOS or Android), others seemingly forked over the cash to keep theirs. That’s not odd in and of itself, but exactly who remains verified is a bit puzzling.
Horror author Stephen King, a prolific tweeter who announced months ago that he would never subscribe to a paid version of Twitter, is one such person. After Rolling Stone reached out to learn whether he’d signed up for Twitter Blue after all, he tweeted that the information currently listed on his profile is incorrect, maintaining that he is not subscribed and has not verified his account with a phone number.
Of the 50 most-followed accounts on Twitter, only seven users — apart from Musk himself and Barack Obama, who have affiliate blue checks linked to official organizations — are currently verified: Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Ellen DeGeneres, Britney Spears, LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon, and Miley Cyrus. Rolling Stone has contacted representatives for each to ask if they are actually subscribed to Twitter Blue as indicated on the app. Musk’s ex, Grimes, is listed as a subscriber as well, but a representative for the musician did not immediately return request for comment as to whether she’s paying.
Ice T — whose account currently bears a Twitter Blue badge — said the furor over verification marked a “Sad moment in society.” The Law & Order: SVU star had previously confirmed he wouldn’t pay to stay verified. On Thursday, he quote-tweeted King’s remark, appearing to indicate that he still hadn’t done so.
Notably, King, LeBron James and William Shatner, three celebrities who each tangled directly with Musk on Twitter in recent months after saying they had no plans to subscribe to Twitter Blue, have the paid checkmark at present. Given Musk’s penchant for trolling, it’s entirely possible he saddled them with the badge as an ironic punishment for criticizing his vision. Musk did reveal in a tweet — after it was confirmed that James had declined an offer for a complimentary subscription — that he is “personally” paying for some users’ verifications.
There’s another potential angle to comping subscriptions like this: it makes Twitter Blue look more popular among famous users with large followings. Some prominent entertainers are making their indifference to verification status quite plain. “Y’all mf’s out here worried about the wrong check,” tweeted Wiz Khalifa, who no longer has a blue check despite his audience of more than 36 million followers. By contrast, half of Twitter Blue subscribers have under 1,000 followers, and around 17 percent have under 100.
Whatever Musk’s game here, one thing is for sure — we’re really no closer to understanding whose blue check means what. Perhaps not ideal for a “verification” system, though nothing about Twitter has been ideal of late.
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