LeBron James appears to be a Twitter Blue member, despite his earlier slamming of the social media platform’s new paid service.
Twitter Blue was introduced as a “premium subscription service that elevates quality conversations,” and with the blue checkmark, users have access to select features from posting longer tweets to editing a tweet after it has already been posted.
The monthly cost starts at $8, and James tweeted he never would be caught paying for it. But his account seemingly showed otherwise on Thursday.
The day before the program was launched on April 1, the Lakers star and four-time NBA Finals MVP tweeted “Welp guess my blue [checkpoint emoji] will be gone soon cause if you know me i ain’t paying the 5” followed by a shrugging shoulder emoji.
The badge on his account displays the platform description of “this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”
James’ media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, confirmed to The Verge that James has not paid the monthly fee, however.
The Verge later reported that a Twitter employee emailed James and offered to have the Twitter Blue subscription priced “comped ‘on behalf of Elon Musk’” — which Musk seemed to confirm himself.
“I’m paying for a few personally,” the Twitter CEO wrote.
James reportedly declined that offer.
LeBron James is subscribed to Twitter Blue.NBAE via Getty Images
Since the beginning of the month, Twitter has been “winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks,” a move that the company announced in late March.
James, 38, wasn’t the only athlete to dislike the idea, as Eagles’ cornerback Darius Slay jumped into the conversation saying “They can have my blue check [two laughing crying emojis] fans might tag the wrong name when someone catch a ball on me!! [laughing crying emoji.”
Slay does not currently have a blue checkmark on his profile.
Welp guess my blue
will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 31, 2023
So far, it appears several athletes have forgone the blue check mark, including James’ close teammate Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Aaron Judge.
However, many have also kept the check along with James, such as Tom Brady and J.J. Watt.
With an estimated net worth of $1 billion, James certainly has the pocket room to pay to keep the verified badge for as long as he would like.
James and the Lakers are currently in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Grizzlies and have split the series 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for Saturday.
