Celebrities Insist They Won’t Pay For Twitter As Blue Ticks Reappear

The Twitter blue verified check mark has reappeared on certain celebrities’ profiles, but the owners of prominent Twitter accounts have stated they would not pay for it.

Since the billionaire Elon Musk-owned platform stated that historical blue ticks would be deleted from the site on April 20 and replaced with only those who had purchased a subscription, many public people have backed away from verification on Twitter.

As a result of the reaction, hashtags like #BlockTheBlueChecks have been popular on Twitter, and numerous celebrities, like Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us, have chosen to stop using it.

Some profiles had their verified status returned without charge on Saturday night.

According to many reports the blue check marks have been reinstated only to accounts with a million followers or more, including tennis player Sir Andy Murray.

“My blue tick has reappeared. For free… some game,” Sir Andy posted.

Actor Sir Ian McKellen tweeted: “Despite the implication when you click the blue badge that has mysteriously re-appeared beside my name, I am not paying for the ‘honour’.”

In what appeared to be a deliberate move by Mr. Musk, some Twitter accounts which led the way in pushing hashtags such as #BlockTheBlue have also had a blue tick added to their profile – including journalist Matt Binder, who has just over 140,000 followers.

“Elon Musk actually did it,” he tweeted, sharing an image of his check mark.

Musk had tweeted two hours beforehand: “Check mate.”

Many celebrities seemed displeased that their verified check mark had reappeared and targeted their incredulity at Mr. Musk, including rapper and singer Lil Nas X.

In the meantime, comedian Dara O Briain, who had 2.6 million followers but was not verified prior to the blue tick cull on April 20, also received one and expressed his astonishment on Sunday morning.

“So, despite never ever actually having had a blue tick, (I liked the idea that I might have been a parody account all this time) I wake up this morning to find I have been given one,” he tweeted.

“That is peculiar. No, I haven’t paid, nor requested it. Can I get into nightclubs now?”