Multimillionaire author Stephen King has complained about the prospect of paying $20 a month to maintain his blue-check verification on Twitter, threatening to quit the platform if he is forced to pay the apparently exorbitant amount.
“Fuck that,” tweeted Stephen King, whose net worth is an estimated $600 million.
$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
Elon Musk replied to King, saying a monthly fee was necessary because Twitter cannot sustain itself entirely on advertising.
We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
As Breitbart News reported, Twitter is planning to introduce a monthly fee of $20 for users to maintain their blue-check verification. Musk has reportedly given Twitter employees until November 7 to implement the new policy or else face termination.
The blue check has literally become a badge of honor among social-media-savvy leftists, who have been dubbed “blue-check liberals.” The verification boosts their online visibility, allowing them greater engagement with audiences and thus more influence.
Stephen King has used his Twitter account, which has close to 7 million followers, to spread fake news about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida’s COVID death count .
King posted a tweet in July incorrectly claiming Gov. DeSantis had signed a bill requiring Florida students and professors to register their political views with the state. He later apologized, saying “I will try to do better.”
Last year, the novelist erroneously claimed last year that Florida had 1,200 COVID-19 deaths in just one day in an apparent confusion between reported deaths and actual deaths that occurred that day.
King was referring to reports of the latest CDC figures for Florida, showing an increase of 1,296 deaths on a Thursday from the total reported a day earlier. In actuality, the figure doesn’t represent deaths that occurred on that Thursday but rather deaths over an undefined period that can go back weeks.
The novelist still hasn’t deleted his incorrect tweet from last year.
1200 dead of COVID yesterday in Florida.
Not the total for a week or a month, but ONE SINGLE DAY.— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 10, 2021
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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