Tesla CEO Elon Musk has admitted that he is ‘personally paying’ for the divisive Twitter Blue subscription for three high-profile figures, including LeBron James.
Musk completed his eye-watering £38.1bn takeover of the social media platform last October and has left users torn with his ownership of Twitter.
Twitter Blue has launched under Musk’s leadership and offers various features as part of the subscription service, including an edit button and a blue checkmark.
The service charges $8 per month for those signing up via Twitter’s homepage on the web browser, while there is an $11 charge for signing up through Apple-owned devices.
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As part of the rollout of Twitter Blue, it was confirmed that checkmarks under the old regime -- or ‘legacy’ verification -- would be purged from the platform.
“Tomorrow, 4/20, we are removing legacy verified checkmarks,” the Twitter Verified account tweeted on Wednesday.
A number of high-profile sporting celebrities, including Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, are no longer verified on Twitter at the time of writing.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar James previously hit out at the plans to remove blue checkmarks and said he would refuse to pay for Twitter Blue.
“Welp, guess my blue [checkmark] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5 [dollars],” he tweeted in March.
Musk on Friday revealed that he is only paying for three Twitter Blue subscriptions, with one of those going to NBA legend James.
The other two people receiving Twitter Blue subscriptions from Musk are former Star Trek star William Shatner and renowned novelist Stephen King.
“Just Shatner, LeBron and King,” Musk tweeted.
King, who has been a staunch critic of billionaire Musk, tweeted out after he remained verified on the platform despite not signing up for Twitter Blue.
“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,” he wrote.
Responding to The Shining author, Musk tweeted: “You’re welcome namaste.”
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Topics: Lebron James, Basketball, NBA
Adnan Riaz