Elon Musk had some choice words for iconic horror writer Stephen King after the author suggested that Twitter’s CEO donate his $8 tick to charity — days after he said he personally foots the bill for several celebrity verifications.
The comments come less than a week after after much talk, Musk finally did away with the website’s famous blue checkmarks, which were previously used to distinguish the official records of world figures from impersonators and ordinary people.
Now the blue mark only denotes those who refused to pay the paltry fee, although some accounts with more than a million followers have had their badges restored without paying to subscribe.
Those blue checks later turned out to have been paid for by Musk, something Tesla’s outspoken CEO bragged about on social media. The revelation caused confusion for King, 75, because he was one of dozens of stars like Lebron James and William Shatner to get a mark.
On Tuesday – the first day of the new blue tick – King tweeted to Musk, 51, asking why he had been given a blue tick. Musk responded by simply saying to the seasoned writer, “You’re welcome,” and possessed other inexplicable points.
The revelation, speculated by several critics to be a troll, prompted a response from King, who had his own words for the new Twitter boss — cheekily telling Musk to donate the $8 he paid to Ukraine , amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
Elon Musk slammed iconic horror writer Stephen King after the author suggested Twitter’s CEO donate his tick to charity — days after he said he personally foots the bill for various celebrity verifications
The comments come less than a week after after much talk, Musk finally did away with the website’s famous blue tick marks, which were previously used to distinguish official accounts from world figures.
My Twitter account says I subscribed to Twitter Blue. Not me. My Twitter account says I gave a phone number. I don’t,” the author of The Shining — who has been a staunch Democrat since 1970 — tweeted Saturday, tagging Musk.
In response to King, billionaire Musk fired back by revealing how much he had already donated to the war-torn country.
“I donated 100 million dollars to Ukraine, how much did you donate?” Musk wrote — further sharing a six-month-old tweet from former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, thanking Musk for the millions he funneled into the country’s war effort.
The October tweet specifically cited Musk’s Starlink satellite system — advanced aerial reconnaissance drones that he has been supplying the Ukrainians for more than a year to help them get an edge on their more money-making, invading aggressors.
The successful deployment of the satellites in March 2022 fulfilled a promise Musk made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the time, when he said his other company, SpaceX, will send satellite stations to provide internet to some of Ukraine’s more affected cities. the country.
He also challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fistfight, though King appeared unimpressed by the South African entrepreneur’s contributions on Saturday.
As of Sunday afternoon, however, the former Republican — who took to social media last year touting how he jumped to his current political party — has been silent on social media despite recent backlash from Musk, a well-known libertarian.
With this in mind, aside from the blue marks, Musk has made it a point to do away with much of the infrastructure and regulation that the Silicon Valley-based social media company had under previous CEO Jack Dorsey.
The culling has seen more than 80 percent of the company’s workforce laid off and many of its censorship practices completely overruled.
The revelation, which critics speculated was a troll, prompted a response from King, who had his own words for the new Twitter boss: He told Musk to donate the $8 he paid to Ukraine.
The blue mark cleanup serves as the most recent part of this strip-down – and amid the frenzy of the much-anticipated rollout, reports began to flow that Musk has reinstated the blue badge of users with over a million followers – as stars like Beyoncé, Harry Kane, Richard Osman and Victoria Beckham had a tick.
Musk later admitted to also covering the cost of some subscriptions, namely Shatner and James, but did not say whether he had footed the bill for the other stars as well. Zelensky, who has more than 7 million followers on the platform, has not received a grade as of Saturday.
The removal of the verified checkmarks came on the same day as Musk’s SpaceX launch, with the rocket exploding shortly after launch.
With the non-verification of so many journalists, it became almost impossible to criticize the rocket’s explosion.
One of those whose accounts are still verified at the time of writing is Lakers star James’ account.
In March, James tweeted, “Cub think my blue check will be gone soon because if you know me I’m not paying the five.”
In addition to verifying celebrities, one of Twitter’s main reasons for marking profiles with a free blue check from about 14 years ago was to verify politicians, activists, and people suddenly in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the world, as an additional tool to curb misinformation coming from accounts impersonating individuals.
“I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) and witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?’ William Shatner tweeted after Musk announced the fee.
Musk later admitted to also covering the cost of some subscriptions, including that of Lebron James, who previously hit the blue tick cull
The South African billionaire replied that there should be no other standard for celebrities. “It’s more about treating everyone equally,” he tweeted.
Companies, meanwhile, have been paying for a golden check for months since the Musk acquisition.
April 1 was the original date to jump-start the clearing of ‘old’ ticks, but many were left behind after this date, leading to confusion.
Ten days later, Musk then announced that the “cut-off date” for removing these ticks would be April 20.
The date is believed to be a sly reference to cannabis, with the number 420 being the time when it is traditionally smoked.
The billionaire was famously filmed smoking the drug on a live podcast in 2018 alongside comedian Joe Rogan.
Musk tweeted, “Last date to remove obsolete blue checks is 4/20.”
After Musk’s message, users quickly expressed their disappointment with the decision.
but did not say whether he had also footed the bill for the other stars. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who has more than 7 million followers on the platform, has not been given a grade
One user said, “I’m not worried about losing my verified check. I’m afraid everyone will lose theirs. The value of the tick does not lie with the holder, but with the people trying to determine whether they can trust the source.’
Another added: “The whole policy makes no sense. It’s like taking trophies away from people who earned them (vetted) and letting everyone buy their trophy. The trophy means nothing now.’
On the other hand, best-selling author Stephen King was excited about the announcement and tweeted, “Big whoop.”
These fees are still ‘subject to change’ as the platform strives to ‘improve’ its services and change features ‘from time to time’.
However, the deletion of unpaid signage has led to numerous impersonation accounts impersonating celebrities and other individuals.
One user fooled others into thinking that former US President Donald Trump tweeted, “Here’s why Elon Musk’s plan isn’t working.”
Another account posed as former President George W. Bush — who appeared to post an unsavory tweet about Iraq — and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
After his takeover, Musk did provide a lot of ‘stupid things’ on the site.
In November, he tweeted, “Keep in mind that Twitter will be doing a lot of stupid things in the coming months. We keep what works and change what doesn’t work.’