LeBron James said he wouldn't pay to keep Twitter blue checkmark, but he still has it. Why?
LeBron James said he won’t pay for a verified (blue checkmark) account on Twitter, and he remained true to his word even though his blue checkmark remains as it disappears from thousands of other accounts that refuse to pay $8 a month for a Twitter Blue subscription.
Twitter reached out to James via email offering a complimentary blue check, but he declined the offer, a person familiar with the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the exchange.
Still, the blue check remains on James’ account, and Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that he is paying for some accounts to keep their blue checkmark. In a later tweet, Musk claimed James was one of those accounts.
It is not known if James, who has 52.7 million followers on the social media site, permanently will keep the blue checkmark.
In late March, James tweeted, “Welp guess my blue (checkmark) will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5.”
Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5. 🤷🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 31, 2023
James, worth approximately $1 billion according to Forbes, is famously frugal, so much so that he at one point said he said doesn’t pay a premium fee to avoid commercials for streaming music services.
Novelist Stephen King still has a blue checkmark even though he said he has not subscribed to Twitter Blue. Musk claimed that along with James he was also covering the Twitter Blue subscription costs for King and actor William Shatner.
Other notable people lost their checkmark, including Beyonce, Pope Francis, Bill Gates and NBA star Steph Curry.
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According to Twitter, “Twitter Blue is an opt-in, paid subscription that adds a blue checkmark to your account and offers early access to select features, like Edit Tweet.”
It costs $8 a month or $84 annually.
'The Verge' first reported the James news.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James still has blue check on Twitter despite not paying for it
