Blue tick drama: Celebrities react to losing Twitter verification

Twitter has eliminated the old blue verification badges in an effort to entice more users to subscribe to Twitter Blue. 

According to a tweet from Twitter Verified, the legacy badges were removed from the platform on April 20th. To obtain a blue badge, users must now join Twitter Blue, which costs $8 per month. 

The process of removing the old badges began on Thursday, resulting in many users expressing their sadness with the trending hashtag #BlueTick. Some even tweeted about the passing of their blue badge, saying: "My blue tick has passed away" and "RIP to my blue tick".

Who has lost their tick?

Among the accounts that lost their blue verification badges were notable personalities such as footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, singer Beyonce, and the official Twitter page of the Pope. 

Similarly, the official accounts of the Prince and Princess of Wales also lost their blue ticks, while the royal family's account representing the King and Queen Consort now bears a silver verified tick.

Celebrities in the US, including Lady Gaga, Jlo, Kim Kardashian, and Oprah Winfrey, also had their blue ticks removed. Other individuals who lost their checkmarks include former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, former health secretary Matt Hancock, and former US President Donald Trump.

Comedian Ricky Gervais expressed his grief over the loss of his blue tick by tweeting, "I'm not sure if I'm really me or not" after losing the verification badge.

Comedian and presenter Richard Osman tweeted: “Farewell blue tick, old friend. Don’t forget, always set your feed to ‘Following’ rather than ‘For You’.

“Then you’ll keep seeing the people you actually follow, and not people who’ve paid for attention.”

Greg James, a radio and television presenter, made a reference to Elon Musk's recent failed rocket launch as he said goodbye to his blue tick on Twitter. The SpaceX Starship, which is the biggest and most powerful space rocket ever developed, exploded moments after launching from a pad in Texas. James' tweet, which garnered over 10,000 likes, read: "I lost my blue tick, but your rocket blew up so who's the real loser."

Meanwhile, Ainsley Harriott, a TV chef, cautioned his followers to be vigilant about scammers who use paid-for verified ticks. In his tweet, Harriott bid farewell to the legacy blue tick and advised people to be cautious of potential scams and fake accounts. In his pinned tweet, he wished everyone a happy evening, with or without a tick.

Who has paid to keep their tick?

Taylor Swift, who has 92.5 million followers, is one of the most well-known accounts with a blue tick as someone who subscribed to Twitter Blue. 

Nadine Dorries, who formerly served as Secretary of State in the UK and now works for Talk TV, has retained her blue tick by subscribing to Twitter Blue, as have Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and financial expert Martin Lewis.

Elon Musk is personally paying for the Twitter Blue subscriptions of some famous figures, such as Lebron James and Stephen King, to keep their verification badges. 

Some users now have a silver tick that indicates verification as a government or multilateral organisation account. This new type of checkmark can be seen on the accounts of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.