Elon Musk has some odd priorities, as evidenced by his decision to finally (after multiple false alarms) remove legacy Twitter verified checkmarks on 4/20, thereby stirring up even more chaos than his exploding SpaceX rocket would have done on its own. Musk made this choice in an attempt to pump up subscriptions for the $8+ Twitter Blue service, but few celebrities are biting, and that includes truly verified icons such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Soon, however, a few famous types noticed that their checkmarks remained, and they grew vocal about this phenomenon.
This included Ice-T and Stephen King (together at last!), both of whom made clear that they never intended to pay for Twitter Blue. In particular, King previously wrote, “$20 a month to keep my blue check F*ck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
The Cell author added, “It ain’t the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
And speaking of cell phones, King now insists that he not only didn’t subscribe to Twitter Blue, but he also never handed over his phone number.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 20, 2023
The mystery quickly grew less mysterious when Elon popped up in King’s replies: “You’re welcome namaste.”