Stephen King Scolded for ‘Virtue Signaling’ Tweet Attacking Elon Musk

A “virtue signaling” tweet from left-wing author Stephen King was met with fierce backlash after he suggested billionaire Elon Musk — who has already spent millions of dollars supplying Ukraine with thousands of Starlink internet terminals — donate more to help the war-torn country.

Following Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s decision to fund Stephen King’s blue tick after Twitter removed them from many high-profile accounts, the horror writer took to the social media platform to suggest Musk donate the cost to aid Ukraine instead.

“I think Mr. Musk should give my blue check to charity,” King wrote Saturday.

“I recommend the Prytula Foundation, which provides lifesaving services in Ukraine,” he added. “It’s only $8, so perhaps Mr. Musk could add a bit more.”

Musk fired back, noting his massive contributions to help Ukraine while calling out King and suggesting he detail how much he has given.

“I’ve donated $100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?” the Tesla CEO replied, adding that his company “turned down the DoD [Department of Defense] money.”

Musk was referring to his funding of SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink, which provides critical telecommunication services in Ukraine, after he claimed to have rejected funding from the U.S. Defense Department.

He also shared a tweet from Ukraine’s digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who thanked the SpaceX founder in October for ensuring the Starlink service would remain on in Ukraine “even if DoD refused to provide funding.”

“This was critically important for Ukraine. We are grateful to you!” Fedorov wrote.

In response, many slammed The Shining author’s apparent “virtue signaling.”

“Why? Do you demand the same of all the other subscriptions you pay for?” asked TV news host-turned-political commentator Piers Morgan. 

“You should be paying @elonmusk a fortune for the huge promotion his platform gives you,” he added.

“Oh Lord the ridiculous virtue signaling. Spare us,” wrote podcast host Megyn Kelly.

“Why can’t you donate your own money?” tweeted the Libertarian Party of Tennessee.

“Why don’t you give some money to charity instead of complaining about $8,” wrote internet personality Oli London.

“Elon did an incredible thing for humanity by buying Twitter to support free speech. Why don’t you do your bit for humanity,” he added.

“[T]he odd thing here is elon’s done more to help defend ukrainians from russian attack than almost any other non-ukrainian,” wrote political scientist and Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer.

“[I]f not for microsoft cyber security against russian attack & spacex offering starlink so soldiers can communicate, hard to see zelensky still in power,” he added.

“You can be rich and still have a poor mentality when you don’t give your own money to charity but virtue signal at others who already did 1000 times more good than you,” wrote one Twitter user.

“You’re worth over a half a billion dollars yourself,” wrote another. “Trying to shame people who gift you things into charity just doesn’t quite hit the same when that’s the case, my dude.”

“Well, I, along with many of us here, think you should shut your mouth!!” another user wrote. “You sure don’t hear any of us peasants crying about having to pay!” 

“Why don’t you charge $0 for your books and your movies??!!??” the user added.

“I’d bet his Starlink donation is worth well more than anything you’ve donated to Ukraine,” wrote one Twitter user.

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“If only there were some incredibly rich celebrity who knew about this situation and could step up to help the Prytula Foundation with this issue,” wrote another.

The spat follows Twitter’s mass removal of its blue checks — previously used to signify a verified account — with Musk having previously referred to their use as part of a “lords & peasants system,” while claiming their removal would “democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”

The blue tick is now available for an $8 monthly fee. 

On Thursday, Musk noted that he would continue to pay for the checks of King as well as pop culture icon William Shatner and NBA superstar LeBron James.

Last year, King melted down over Musk’s announcement he was seeking to charge for Twitter’s verification checkmark.

“$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron,” he wrote.

In response, Musk defended the program while agreeing to a price reduction.

“We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” he asked.