Elon Musk Is Personally Paying for Verified Twitter Checkmarks for Some People, Including Stephen King

Elon Musk is footing the bill.

The 51-year-old SpaceX and Twitter CEO, who is facing significant criticism and backlash for his plan to charge people for verification on Twitter after removing legacy checkmarks on Thursday (April 20), revealed he’s personally paying for some accounts.

Stephen King, who previously said he would never subscribe to a paid version of Twitter, still has a blue checkmark. He then tweeted that the information currently listed on his profile is incorrect.

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“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t,” he wrote.

“You’re welcome namaste 🙏,” Elon wrote back, seemingly indicated he paid for it himself.

Ice T also previously indicated he wouldn’t be paying for one, and quote-tweeted Stephen King, writing “Thanks Stephen. Don’t believe the Hype. 💥,” suggesting his was being paid for as well.

LeBron James and William Shatner, who sparred with Elon previously after saying they had no plans to subscribe to Twitter Blue, have the verified checkmark, raising suspicions that Elon is funding checkmarks for the accounts he argued with just to troll them.

“I’m paying for a few personally,” he later tweeted.

The Verge has also confirmed that an employee at Twitter emailed LeBron James to “extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”

Only seven of the 50 most followed accounts on Twitter are currently verified, via Rolling Stone.

Check out the tweets…

Find out what celebrities said in response to their checkmarks getting taken away and being told they need to pay for Twitter Blue.