Elon Musk gives complimentary Twitter verification to LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatne

The Verge has confirmed that an employee at Twitter recently emailed James, who has previously said he wouldn’t pay for verification, to “extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”

James’ longtime media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, confirmed to The Verge that James hasn’t paid to be verified. After we first published this story, Musk said on Twitter that he’s paying “a few” subscriptions “personally,” including for the accounts belonging to Stephen King and William Shatner.

James has perhaps been one the most famous haters of paid verification on Twitter and has insisted that he won’t pay. But if you check his profile, he still has a verified badge. Once you hover over the badge, it says that “this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”

A screenshot of LeBron’s Twitter account on April 20th.

When reached for comment, Twitter’s press email replied with a poop emoji, which it has been doing for weeks.

Update April 20th, 6:13PM ET: Added details about Elon Musk offering LeBron James and a few others a complimentary Twitter Blue subscription.

Update April 20th, 6:46PM ET: Added tweet from Musk to Stephen King.

Update April 20th, 11:30PM ET: Added confirmation from Musk that he’s also paying to verify William Shatner and removed references to the rapper Ice-T.

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