NFL star RIPS ‘little b****’ Elon Musk for taking away his blue checkmark

After Twitter owner Elon Musk removed the “old” blue ticks from most verified user accounts, San Francisco 49ers long snapper Taybor Pepper lashed out at Musk on his own platform.

Pepper, who has been in the league since 2017 after playing his college football at Michigan State, was not happy about losing verification and began insulting Musk.

“That little b**** @elonmusk finally did it, he took my check. By the way, I am never going to pay for this stupid platform. #BelugaWhaleLookinAss,” Pepper’s tweet read. His account has now been set to private.

Musk’s decision to remove the verification symbol from users who hadn’t subscribed to the payment service Twitter Blue came after months of speculation and threats.

The South African-born billionaire had threatened to remove unsubscribed ticks shortly after his takeover of Twitter was completed in October 2022.

Musk kept his word to remove blue verification “checkmarks” from so-called “legacy verified accounts” who chose not to pay for the subscription service Twitter Blue

Once the company was in his hands, Musk began allowing anyone who could afford the $7.99 monthly subscription fee a “blue check.”

He also threatened to take the check marks off anyone who wouldn’t pay for Twitter Blue. After several times claiming that the check marks would disappear, he did not follow through until Thursday.

As a result, several celebrities, athletes and journalists lost their verification – which could lead to confusion about the authenticity of statements in the future.

Musk’s decision to turn the tick into a “pay-to-acquire” badge, the icon’s social currency disappeared.

It has already caused confusion as some fake accounts for government departments that have lost verification have been faked in the app.

The official New York City government account lost its verification yesterday, tweeting that they were “the only account for @NYCGov operated by the government of New York City.”

An impostor account replied to that tweet claiming that the official account was fraudulent as they were both unverified.

The @NYCGov account has since been given a silver check — indicating it’s a government profile — and the imposter account has been banned.

Confusion between official accounts has already started on Twitter

Pepper was one of many athletes who lost their verification on Thursday afternoon

A notable exception was LeBron James, who previously said he would not pay for the service

However, Musk seemed to suggest that he paid to maintain James’s verification himself

Celebrities have largely lost their check marks — including musicians like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Shakira; actors and actresses such as Selena Gomez, Kevin Hart and Robert Downey Jr.; and athletes such as Damian Lillard, Aaron Judge and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Others, like The Weeknd, Cardi B, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Chris Hemsworth seem to have subscribed to Twitter Blue.

One of the other notable “Twitter Blue subscribers” is LeBron James – who previously tweeted that he wouldn’t pay to keep his verification.

“Cub guess my blue [check] will be gone soon because if you know me I’m not paying the 5,” James tweeted in March.

However, James’ blue check remained linked to his account on Thursday and Friday. But reports from outlets like USA Today and members of LeBron’s team have claimed the basketball star was not paying for the service.

Musk replied on Thursday that he still pays for a select few celebs’ check marks, appearing to suggest that James is one of them, along with William Shatner and Stephen King — so that could be the explanation.