No, LeBron James Isn't Paying For Twitter Verification
A stir was created on Thursday when LeBron James and a few other celebrities remained verified on Twitter despite claiming they'd never pay for the privilege. Many called James a hypocrite and laughed at his vanity for paying to keep a blue checkmark. Well, it turns out, the NBA superstar is not actually paying.
The Verge's Alex Heath is now reporting Twitter reached out to LeBron and offered to have his subscription comped, "on behalf of Elon Musk." James refused, but his account remains verified.
NEW: Have confirmed that LeBron, who has 52 million followers and has said he won’t pay for verification, was emailed by a Twitter employee with the offer to have his sub comped “on behalf of Elon Musk.”
— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) April 20, 2023
James did not accept but his account is showing that he paid anyway.
Other celebrities like Stephen King and Williams Shatner also remain verified despite loudly claiming they'd never pay for a checkmark. Many wondered why. Well it seems we have our answer.
Later on Thursday, Musk admitted he was paying for several accounts to remain verified.
I’m paying for a few personally
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
So some people who are deemed worthy are getting checkmarks who didn't pay for them. Exactly what Musk said wouldn't happen is happening. From November 1, 2022:
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
So yeah, it's all going great.