Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter’s blue check apocalypse is here, and some celebrities still have verified badges even though they aren’t paying for it.
LeBron James has perhaps been the most famous hater of paid verification on Twitter, insisting that, like Martin Lawrence’s TV show character, “I ain’t paying the $5.” But if you check his profile right now, he still has a verified badge. If you hover over the badge, it says that “this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” But we contacted James’ media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, who confirmed that James hasn’t paid the $8 monthly fee.
Many other NBA players, like Stephen Curry, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant, appeared to have lost their blue checks on…