LET THEM REST

Even the Dead Can’t Escape Twitter’s Forced Blue Check Verification

A number of dead celebrities, including Chadwick Boseman and Michael Jackson, suddenly have verified checkmarks claiming they paid for Twitter Blue.

The dead speak! According to Twitter, that is. Countless late celebrities—including Michael Jackson, Chadwick Boseman, and assassinated Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi—have been given blue checkmarks “because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number,” according to their profile pages. The confounding phenomenon began Saturday when Twitter accounts with large followings, many of whom had complained about Elon Musk’s $8-per-month Twitter Blue service and wished to lose their checkmark, suddenly re-received the now-toxic blue badge. The company has not officially commented on its (one of many) policy reversal(s), but Musk gave a clue on Saturday. After New York Times columnist Paul Krugman disavowed his forced checkmark, Musk responded with a stock image of a baby wearing a bib crying while eating food in a highchair. The graphic on the bib? A blue checkmark.