NBA fans gave LeBron James grief for paying to keep his Twitter blue tick – only to later discover the truth.
The basketball icon, 38, informed his followers last month that he would not be paying for Elon Musk’s new-look subscription service.
LeBron James told his Twitter followers he wouldn’t be signing up to Elon Musk’s new service
But fans were surprised when James’ blue tick remained after the deadline – with Musk intervening
Musk has since launched Twitter Blue, a paid model that requires even celebrities to fork out upwards of $8-per-month for a verified ‘blue tick’.
LeBron told his 52.7m followers in March: “Welp guess my blue [tick] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5.”
However, when the change came into force on April 20, James’ blue verification tick remained on his account.
Users flocked to call him out on his apparent hypocrisy, with one saying: “Why you always lying for no reason?”
While another added: “Guess you paid after all.”
And a third said: “Blue check [is]still there twin.”
However, Twitter owner Musk has since come out and revealed that he is “personally paying” for a select number of celebs.
According to The Verge, a Twitter employee sent LeBron an email “extend[ing] a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”
James’ media advisor Adam Mendelsohn confirmed to the outlet that his client had not paid for Twitter Blue.
As well as LeBron, writer Stephen King and actor William Shatner have also retained their blue ticks.
King wrote in bemusement: “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t.”
Musk replied to his message, implying he had paid the fee saying: “You’re welcome namaste.”
He later added in response to PopBase: “[I’m] just [paying] for Shatner, LeBron and King.”
Those now left with a regular account and no verification include soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Kim Kardashian, Sir Paul McCartney, and Donald Trump.
3The tech guru revealed he is paying for LeBron’s account to stay verifiedCredit: PA
