OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Actresses Bette Midler and Alyssa Milano were among the celebrities who had meltdowns after Twitter removed their blue verified checkmarks.
“Elon took my blue check away! I’m unverified! After all these years and thousands of tweets and free content, this worm has the nerve to de-certify me!” Midler said in a tweet.
Elon took my blue check away! I’m unverified! After all these years and thousands of tweets and free content, this worm has the nerve to de-certify me!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) April 20, 2023
“Elon, deciding that I’m not me, I’m a fake, & obliging ME, who has contributed mightily to your platform, (at least until you ‘tweaked the algorithm & tanked my metrics’) to pay monthly because you don’t have enough money & you’re humiliated b/c everyone thinks you’re a pathetic douche, is the funniest thing you’ve ever done. Let that sink in. Sorry to hear about your rocket,” she said.
douche, is the funniest thing you’ve ever done. Let that sink in. Sorry to hear about your rocket.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) April 21, 2023
Fox News reported.
Before Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, some celebrities, political commentators, journalists and other persons of interest on the site possessed blue checks that proved they were real people.
That all changed Thursday, when Musk delivered on his promise to make Twitter a pay-to-play platform for users who want to prove that they are who they say they are.
Notably, the social media company’s decision caused figures like former President Trump and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to lose their blue checkmarks.
Currently, only government accounts, such as President Joe Biden’s official Twitter account, are eligible for free verification. However, individuals and businesses, regardless of how prominent they might be, will no longer have a blue check mark unless they pay Twitter $8 a month.
“So by revoking my blue check mark because I wouldn’t pay some arbitrary fee, someone can just be me and say a bunch of bulls—. Does that mean Twitter and @elonmusk are liable for defamation or identity theft or fraud?” Milano said.
So by revoking my blue check mark because I wouldn’t pay some arbitrary fee, someone can just be me and say a bunch of bullshit. Does that mean Twitter and @elonmusk are liable for defamation or identity theft or fraud?
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 20, 2023
“So long, verified status,” Elijah Wood said.
So long, verified status.
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) April 21, 2023
“Blue check or no check… I know my fans still checkin,” Ciara said.
Blue check or no check… I know my fans still checkin. ❤️
— Ciara (@ciara) April 20, 2023
Twitter Inc. has merged into Elon Musk’s X corporation and some now believe that Twitter is “dead.”
“A filing at Southern District of Florida shows that Twitter Inc has merged with X Corp and now Twitter no longer exists. X Corp’s parent company is X Holding Corps. The new phase of Twitter will be X Corp. Is this the start of the everything app?” Mario Nawfal said on Twitter.
On Monday, Musk tweeted the single letter “X,” another hint that the CEO intends to create an “everything app,” which he hinted at before he became the owner of the company.
“Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” he said in a tweet before he became the owner of the company.
Business Insider reported:
The Twitter chief developed an affinity for the letter back in the 1990s, founding the company “X.com” which later became PayPal. Musk then repurchased the domain name in 2017, and now appears to be starting to put together his new scheme.
That seems to include a payment service, as Twitter applied for regulatory licenses after his takeover, per the Financial Times. He previously suggested he could be inspired by the Chinese app WeChat, which includes banking, ride-sharing services, and video chatting.
#BREAKING: Twitter is Dead
A filing at Southern District of Florida shows that Twitter Inc has merged with X Corp and now Twitter no longer exists.
X Corp’s parent company is X Holding Corps.
The new phase of Twitter will be X Corp.
Is this the start of the everything app? pic.twitter.com/vposdXKbGV
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 11, 2023
Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2022
“It does everything — sort of like Twitter, plus PayPal, plus a whole bunch of things, and all rolled into one, with a great interface,” Musk said. “It’s really an excellent app, and we don’t have anything like that outside of China.”
As part of a lawsuit in Florida over suspended accounts, the company said “Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists.”
Musk, known for issuing sarcastic and snarky responses to political events on the platform that usually don’t bode well for Democrats, called the party out again last Tuesday following former President Donald Trump’s appearance in a Manhattan courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty to dozens of felony charges.
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted a meme containing a decades-old photo of a much younger Trump, which said: “Why do time travelers keep trying to kill me? I’m just a realtor!” — Donald Trump, 1980.
In the post, Musk wrote: “If the Dem Party had a time machine.”
If the Dem Party had a time machine pic.twitter.com/a1QE7JcGLB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2023
To avoid losing the trust of the American public, it is important that our justice system pursue Democrats and Republicans with equal vigor.
Whichever party most puts justice before nepotism is the one that deserves trust.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2023
“To avoid losing the trust of the American public, it is important that our justice system pursue Democrats and Republicans with equal vigor,” Musk wrote later in response to a tweet from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Whichever party most puts justice before nepotism is the one that deserves trust.
