Billionaire NBA star LeBron James has announced that he is refusing to pay to $8 per month fee to maintain his blue check, verified status on Twitter.
The privileged player made his announcement in the wake of Twitter’s announcement notice that all blue checks will be deleted except for those accounts that have paid the $8 monthly fee to retain the verified status.
On Friday, James told his fans that his Twitter blue check would soon be gone.
“Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5,” he said.
The billionaire partner with the communist Chinese is far from the only super-rich member of the entertainment industry elite who is gleefully saying that they won’t pay $8 a month for their blue check.
A pro-Hong Kong activist holds an image depicting LeBron James as Chinese communist revolutionary Chairman Mao Zedong before the Los Angeles Lakers season-opening game against the LA Clippers, outside Staples Center, on October 22, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
This week, Seinfeld star Jason Alexander, who reportedly has a net worth of $50 million, also jumped to his Twitter account to whine about the $8 fee.
Alexander is not the only privileged celebrity who thinks they deserve a free blue check verification. Many other celebs have also taken to their Twitter accounts to complain about having their check removed unless they pay up.
Horror author Stephen King, as well as William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky, among others, have also complained about having to pay the fee to maintain their verification.
Last year, Musk began alerting users that the $ 7-a-month verification fee was in the works. And this year, he has it in full effect.
Along with the $7 verified blue check, for a dollar more, the service fee also allows users to post longer videos—and longer tweets. And soon, blue-check users will find their posts “rocketing to the top of replies, mentions, and search,” allowing editing of posted tweets, and their fans will see half the number of ads others see.
Still, Musk halted the program last Nov. when imposter accounts sprang up after paying the $7 fee. So it was an issue Musk had to address going forward.
Musk relaunched the service after making tweaks to stop imposter accounts from abusing the blue check offer, but the pricing changed slightly to $7 a month or $84 a year, with a second plan priced at $8 a month, or $96 annually.
In light of how chummy LeBron is with the Chinese, one wonders if he would be happier with a red check instead of a blue one?
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
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