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Twitter announced that on Thursday, April 20, it would remove those blue verification checkmarks for all users unless they pay for a "Twitter Blue" subscription service.
Many New York celebrities have lost their verification because of this – including Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and Olivia Wilde.
Brooke Shields, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton likewise ditched the checkmarks, along with the Cuomo brothers -- former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and cable news host Chris Cuomo.
However, there are some stars from the Empire State who have decided to pay to (apparently) keep their verification status.
Jimmy Fallon, Cardi B, and Madonna still have their blue check status, meaning they’re subscribed. Or does it?
Bestselling author Stephen King, who has more than seven million followers, tweeted just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday: "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."
Previously, Twitter would reach out to celebrities to verify their identity.
Since Elon Musk’s takeover of the app, this process has been changed to Twitter Blue, a subscription service where any user can apply to be verified for the price of $8 a month.
While some worry that this widespread verification will lead to impersonators and misinformation (as evidenced by the events that occurred when Twitter Blue was launched), Musk claims that the change will “democratize journalism.”
Other Twitter Blue features include the ability to edit tweets, create posts up to 10,000 characters long, and see fewer ads in between tweets.
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