Celebrities are irritated by Elon Musk's plans to take away their blue tick on Twitter unless they pay at least $8 a month
Kate Duffy  Â
- Celebrities have criticized Elon Musk for his plans to remove legacy verified ticks from April 1.
- William Shatner called Twitter Blue a "money grab," while Jason Alexander said he'd quit the site.
Elon Musk has made many changes on Twitter since acquiring the company for $44 billion in late October. As well as laying off thousands of employees and restoring former President Donald Trump's account, he's also launched Twitter Blue.
Twitter Blue is a monthly subscription service that costs at least $8 a month. Blue offers subscribers fewer adverts, priority with tweets, and above all, a blue tick that signals that they're verified.
Users who previously received a blue tick for free will have their legacy checkmark removed from April 1. Twitter said the only way users can keep their blue ticks is by signing up to its paid subscription feature, which has irritated some users, including celebrities.
William Shatner called Twitter Blue a "money grab."
Shatner, known for portraying Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," tweeted at Musk, telling him he'd been on Twitter for 15 years giving his time and "witty thoughts all for bupkis."
Musk responded to Shatner, saying that celebrities should be treated the same as everyone else on Twitter.
Shatner replied to the billionaire, saying: "Somewhere, Twitter lost its way."
The actor said blue checkmarks were "guardrails to legitimacy; not meaningless status symbols." He added that Twitter doesn't stop another William Shatner from being verified with the subscription service.
Shatner said Twitter Blue seemed to be a "money grab."
"There's nothing wrong with money grabs if you are clear upfront. You aren't," he said.
Monica Lewinsky shared screenshots of other Twitter accounts that had the same name as her and a blue checkmark.
"Well this is going to be fun," Lewinsky tweeted.
"In what universe is this fair to people who can suffer consequences for being impersonated?" she wrote in a following tweet. " A lie travels half way around the world before truth even gets out the door."
She then shared her Instagram handle in a Twitter post.
Jason Alexander, who starred in "Seinfeld," threatened to quit Twitter.
The American actor tweeted that although there were bigger problems in the world than having a blue tick on Twitter, anyone could allege to be him.
"So, if I lose that tick know I will leave this platform," Alexander said. "Anyone appearing with it=an imposter. I tell you this while I'm still official."
Karl Urban, who acted in "Star Trek" and "Lord of the Rings," warned his Twitter followers about other users impersonating him.
Urban wrote in a tweet that he would lose his blue tick on Twitter because he was "opposed to spending money on social media."
The New Zealand actor told his followers to be careful about "imposters and money soliciting scams."
"I will never ask you for money on any social media platform," Urban said.
He added that he was going "checkless."
Martin Lewis, an expert in personal finance in the UK, told his 2.2 million Twitter followers that Twitter Blue could cause scams and fraud.
"This is not a good for scam or fraud prevention. Scammers can pay as they make money from it," Lewis, founder of the MoneySavingExpert platform, tweeted.
Lewis later shared that he had signed up for Twitter Blue, but his decision wasn't a recommendation or support for Musk's new feature.
"I'm in a peculiar position that scammers commonly impersonate me to steal from the vulnerable, so I feel obligated to do it to reduce that risk," Lewis said.
But Musk isn't backing down. He's said there shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities on Twitter.
"It's more about treating everyone equally. There shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities imo," Musk told Shatner in a tweet.
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