A couple of things are going on here.
The first is something I have spoken about many times. In America, no one gets more free stuff than rich people, and poor people never get anything free.
If anyone deserves free stuff, it is poor people, not rich people.
The second thing is, who the F cares? The blue check mark means absolutely nothing these days. In the early 2010s, it meant something, but by 2023, you should know who you should trust and who is fake.
Whatever the case, the streets were clowning LeBron for still being verified, only to find out Elon was paying for it.
Twitter has started getting rid of legacy blue checks for those who don’t pay up. Well, unless you’re LeBron James.
The Verge has confirmed that an employee at Twitter emailed James, who has previously said he wouldn’t pay for verification, to “extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”
We contacted James’ longtime media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, who confirmed that James hasn’t paid to be verified. However, after we first published this information, Musk said that he’s paying for “a few” subscriptions “personally.”
James has perhaps been the most famous hater of paid verification on Twitter, insisting that, like Martin Lawrence’s TV show character, “I ain’t paying the $5.” But if you check his profile right now, he still has a verified badge. Once you hover over the badge, it says that “this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”
Many other NBA players, like Stephen Curry, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant, appeared to have lost their blue checks on Thursday.
Twitter seems to be on its last legs, and maybe that is Elon’s plan in the first place.
What do you think about all this?
I’m paying for a few personally
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023