So much for overhauling the ‘lords & peasants system’! Elon Musk sparks backlash after ‘personally’ paying for celebrities William Shatner, LeBron James and Stephen King to keep their blue ticks despite cull
- All ‘legacy’ blue ticks instated before Musk’s Twitter takeover are now gone
- But some celebrities still have them, despite refusing to pay for Twitter Blue
- Musk said he is ‘personally’ paying for the service for Shatner, James and King
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 Musk tweeted that he has gifted it to them regardless.
This has caused outrage, as the Twitter chief executive 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’.
Elon Musk is ‘personally’ paying for William Shatner (left), LeBron James (middle) and Stephen King (right) to keep their verified blue ticks on Twitter
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.
TWITTER’S NEW VERIFICATION SYSTEM
Blue ticks
Twitter Blue is a subscription service that gives users a ‘Blue Tick’ of verification for a monthly fee.
It currently costs £9.60, or $8, per month for those who purchase the service through the web, but £11, or $11, per month through Apple iOS.
Gold ticks
Companies that want to keep their ‘official’ Twitter checkmark will be given no option but to pay £11,400 per year – plus an extra £50/month to have affiliated business accounts.
Grey ticks
These badges are used to verify government accounts and associated bodies.
Governments do not have to pay a cost for these ticks.
‘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.
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 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 boss 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’.
Musk tweeted last night 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
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 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.
Elon Musk BASHED after slapping BBC Twitter account with ‘government-funded’ warning – READ MORE HERE
The BBC objected to being labelled as ‘Government Funded Media’
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’.
THE LONG ROAD TO ELON MUSK’S TWITTER TAKEOVER – AND THE CHAOS THAT FOLLOWED
Musk’s takeover of Twitter all began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2 per cent Twitter stake, becoming the company’s largest shareholder.
The world’s richest person then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share.
Twitter accepted the offer later in April, but the following month Musk said the deal is on hold pending a review of bot accounts.
His lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal, and four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition.
Twitter accused Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing he wanted out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.
On October 4, Musk performed another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that one day ahead of a deadline to avoid a trial.
Since becoming owner, Musk – who also runs Tesla and SpaceX – has wasted no time making significant changes to Twitter, including firing top execs and dissolving the board of directors.
He’s also confirmed going to make Twitter users pay $8 per month to have a blue tick next to their account name, calling the current ‘lords and peasants’ system ‘bulls**t’.
Musk previously mulled a $20 per month blue tick verification fee, but appeared to lower the cost following criticism from horror author Stephen King;, among others.
Musk has also already specified his intention to form a content moderation council with ‘widely diverse viewpoints’.
‘No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,’ he said.
He has also reportedly brought more than 50 of his Tesla staff who were mostly working on the electric car company’s autopilot team to review and work on code for Twitter.
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