Chrissy Teigen, and a slew of other celebrities, have reacted to the prospect of losing their blue verified checkmarks from their Twitter accounts.
From Saturday (1 April), the social media platform is set to remove the checks from “legacy verified accounts”, which refers to accounts that obtained the blue checks before Elon Musk acquired the company in October 2022.
Instead, users who wish to keep their blue checks will have to sign up for Twitter Blue, a new subscription-type service that costs US$8 per month. Previously, the blue checks were given out free of charge after Twitter verified the individuals and entities as active, authentic and notable accounts of interest.
But a number of celebrities have indicated they will not pay to maintain their blue checks on the platform.
“Oh my god just take the checkmark already who cares,” Teigen tweeted on Friday (31 March).
Several hours later, the model joked: “Going to bed tonight with my checkmark husband, knowing it will all be over by morning.”
Asked if she would “divorce” Legend if he started paying for his blue checkmark, Teigen replied: “Oh my god I dried up just thinking about it.”
Other famous figures who have rejected the idea of paying for their verified accounts include Dionne Warwick, Ben Stiller, and LeBron James.
Warwick tweeted: “I am not paying for a blue check. That money could (and will) be going towards my extra hot lattes.”
Meanwhile, Stiller was enjoying a Knicks game on Friday night when he bid goodbye to his blue check.
He tweeted: “My last blue check night, loving this Knick game.”
A follower asked: “No more blue checkmark? How are we going to know that you are the real Ben Stiller?”
The Zoolander star replied: “I have no idea. I’ll keep my account. Not sure what I’ll do.”
Basketball legend James wrote: “Welp guess my blue check will be gone soon ‘cause if you know me I ain’t [sic] paying the five.”
Modern Family star Julie Bowen also said goodbye to her blue check, tweeting: “Last day of my blue check. It’s been fun, Twitter!”
Meanwhile, filmmaker Judd Apatow declared: “No check mark is the new check mark.”
Anyone who does pay for a Twitter Blue subscription will gain access to new tools, including longer tweets, an “edit” feature for posts, and higher priority in the algorithm.
Musk previously criticised Twitter’s verification programme as a “lords and peasants” system.
