This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
Remember when Elon Musk said all legacy verified accounts not subscribed to Twitter Blue would lose their blue tick on April 1? Well, that didn’t happen—but he did end up making good on his word, partly, by removing blue ticks from most legacy verified accounts 19 days later, on April 20.
However, Musk non-consensually gave blue ticks to a number of high-profile legacy verified accounts with 1 million followers or above, with a note misleadingly saying they paid for Twitter Blue and provided their cellphone numbers for verification. Many of these accounts, including Steven King, Lil Nas X, Alyssa Milano, and Kara Swisher, stressed online that they did not pay for Twitter Blue, provide their phone number, or want a blue check—and did not want to be seen as someone who would.
