Twitter is committed to implementing its subscription plans for all users. As Twitter CEO Elon Musk set the April 20th deadline for Legacy account users to pay up for Twitter Blue to keep their blue checkmarks, some celebrities appear to not have lost their verification checks, including NBA superstar Lebron James.
Twitter Offers Complimentary Subscription to Lebron James; Musk Pays for Stephen King's and William Shatner's Blue Ticks
Many people noticed that James still had a blue checkmark next to his name on Twitter as many celebrities from all over the world lost their verified status after refusing to pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue. The Verge has confirmed that a Twitter employee sent an email to James, giving him a complimentary Twitter Blue subscription for his account. Based on the email, the complimentary subscription is "on behalf of Elon Musk."
The Verge also got a confirmation from James' media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, that the basketball superstar never paid for Twitter Blue to keep his blue tick. This is consistent with James' remarks last month that he would not pay for the use of news platforms and social media accounts.
At this point, it appears that Musk allowed James to keep his blue checkmark on his tab. However, the Tesla and SpaceX founder himself admitted on Twitter that he paid for the Blue subscriptions of a few celebrities, including Stephen King and William Shatner. He has yet to acknowledge that he paid for James' verified account as well.
Musk Paying for Celebrities Who Have Been Vocal Against Twitter Blue Subscription
Following the announcement of the end of the Legacy verified account, the Lakers star player tweeted on March 31 about losing his blue tick soon since he is the type of person who won't be "paying for five." As per Daily Mail, James might have thought that the monthly payment for a Twitter Blue subscription is $5 instead of $8, hence he wrote the tweet that way. However, this might also be a reference to a TV show character played by Martin Lawrence who said the same line.
Another notable critic of the Twitter Blue subscription plan is the horror novelist, King, who was also among the first people to question Musk for planning to charge account users for their verification ticks. When the news about the subscription plan first came out, the expected charge for each user is $20, something that King and many other celebrities had strongly opposed. In a way, bringing down the monthly subscription fee from $20 to $80 is partly due to this resistance.
Still, King insisted that he wouldn't pay for Twitter Blue only to keep his blue tick. Surprisingly, the renowned author still had his verified status as of April 20th. King recently tweeted about the situation, claiming that he has never paid for a Blue subscription. Musk replied to this tweet shortly in a cynical manner, implying that he is responsible for King still having the blue checkmark on his account. From this, some people believe that Musk is paying for a few celebrities' Twitter Blue as a clapback for publicly criticizing his plan.
