Celebrities don’t want to pay Elon for a blue check

 April 1st is the dumbest day on the internet, and this year it's not just because brands are trying to prank you by selling 'hot iced coffee'. Starting Saturday, Twitter will begin removing blue checks from "older verified" users if they don't subscribe to Twitter Blue. It's part of new owner Elon Musk's grand plan to make Twitter profitable, but this particular program has a glaring problem: If someone with $8 a month can get a blue check, the symbol will no longer be cool (and misinformation will also proliferate). , but Musk doesn't seem overly concerned about it).

Twitter originally launched its verification system in 2009 to protect celebrities from impersonation. Someone created an account pretending to be the former manager of St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa, but instead of just asking for the account to be canceled, La Russa sued Twitter. And so the three-year-old company introduced its iconic blue check badge.

We have now come full circle. Celebrities are a day away from losing their badges of validation, and you might think they'd be lamenting the loss of this symbol that was literally created to protect them. Unfortunately for Musk, paying for Twitter Blue is embarrassing, so some celebrities have spoken out about not paying for a blue check.

Earlier in the month, musician Ice Spice weighed in: "1M here's a heavy blue check :')"

What she means is that people will know she is who she says she is because a fake account couldn't compete with her 1.2 million followers. He's right, but we know that people don't always click on your profile when they're not sure you're real - they might just believe that insulin is now free (it's not).

In the chaotic early days of Twitter's new verification program—a time when anyone could instantly get a blue check, change their behavior, and impersonate others—basketball superstar LeBron James was one of the first celebrities to be impersonated. On an account verified by Blue's Twitter account, someone impersonating James posted that he was demanding a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It wasn't true, but the news spread anyway.

James still doesn't want to pay for the blue check, he said on Twitter.

James is the NBA's highest-paid player of all time, earning over $40 million a year. He's all the more cheerful that he won't pay.

For some celebrities, it's not about the $8. It's the principle of it. Actor William Shatner took to Twitter to tell Musk: “Now you're telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?

But also everyone knows how disgusting they will look if they pay for verification. Michael Thomas, a wide receiver for the NFL's New Orleans Saints, summed it up best: "There's no way nobody wants that tattered blue check anymore 😂"

This year's Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes II, also an extremely well-paid athlete, joked that he couldn't pay $8 because he had kids to take care of.

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay makes an excellent point (and he's also on the best team in the NFL, don't check me, it's true). If anyone wants to impersonate him, then maybe rabid Philly fans are accidentally tweeting their complaints to the wrong person.

Other stars have taken the time to tell their followers that even if they lose their check, they are who they say they are ... but they still don't want to pay for verification. Monica Lewinsky has posted a set of screenshots that show what happens when you search for her name on Twitter. There are already many imitators out there, some of whom have been paid a blue check.