Elon Musk Pays Blue Twitter Subscription For LeBron James, Stephen King And William Shatner

LeBron James Twitter account still ticks blue because Twitter Blue subscriptions are paid by Elon Musk. (photo: twitter @KingJames)

JAKARTA - Twitter has reportedly started removing the blue release checklist or verification of ancient accounts for users who do not subscribe to the Twitter Blue service, except for several celebrities such as LeBron James and several other well-known people.

At the same time, Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, reportedly paid a Twitter Blue subscription fee for James' account and several other celebrity accounts.

A Twitter employee recently emailed James, who previously said he would not pay for verification, to "provide a free Twitter Blue subscription to your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk."

James' longtime media adviser confirmed that James did not pay to be verified. However, Musk said that he paid "some" of the subscriptions personally, including for the Stephen King and William Shatner accounts.

Although James has always opposed verification payments on Twitter, his account remains verified. When directed at the account verification section, there is a statement that "this account was verified because they subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number."

Stephen King, who plays a role in the development of Twitter Blue, which is not set at a price of 20 US dollars (Rp. 290 thousand) per month, previously said he did not subscribe to Twitter Blue or give the company his phone number.

Then on Thursday, April 20, Musk posted a cynical tweet indicating that he was paying a subscription to King.

Reported by The Verge, Twitter itself did not provide an official response to this issue and over the past few weeks, they have only replied to an email requesting comment with dirty emojis.