Lakers star LeBron James, who staunchly opposed paying Elon Musk and Twitter to maintain his verification status, still has his blue checkmark, despite the company’s mass removal on Thursday.
Back on March 31, the four-time NBA champion tweeted “Welp guess my blue [checkpoint] will be gone soon cause if you know me i ain’t paying the 5.” However, James drew the attention of many users for seemingly reversing course.
Upon clicking on the blue badge on his account Thursday evening, a brief caption appears stating: “This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”
However, James is not actually be paying the $8 monthly bill for Twitter Blue, after all.
As first reported by the The Verge, James has not gone back on his word, but is having his subscription to Twitter Blue paid for by Musk himself. The company’s CEO confirmed as much on Thursday
“I’m paying for a few personally,” Musk tweeted late Thursday in response to a story about some accounts maintaining their verified status.
I’m paying for a few personally
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Other star athletes like Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Aaron Rodgers, Tiger Woods and Patrick Mahomes had their checkmarks removed. Interestingly, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady joined James in retaining his Twitter Blue badge, but the retired quarterback hadn’t commented on whether he would be maintaining his status.
