Which Celebrities Have Twitter Checkmarks, and Which Ones Don’t? We Examined 30 Accounts
Some still have their blue checkmarks, some lost them, and some still have them against their will.
After warning of his plans to do so for months, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has removed blue checkmarks from hundreds of thousands of accounts. Once used to verify the identity of celebrities and other notable accounts, the checkmark is now only available to people who subscribe to Musk’s Twitter Blue subscription for $8 per month.
Musk had long condemned the original verification system, which he called “corrupt” and a “lords and peasants system.” Critics of Musk’s new Twitter Blue approach say it will be harder to verify the authenticity of celebrity accounts and could lead to rampant impersonation problems.
About 420,000 accounts had blue checkmarks before Musk started removing them on April 20, and only about 5 percent of those once-verified accounts opted into the new Twitter Blue system, according to Mashable.
So which celebrities still have their Twitter checkmarks, and which ones don’t? Here is what 30 high-profile account holders decided about their blue ticks.
Pope Francis
Status: Checkmark (kind of)
Out of everyone who lost their blue checkmarks, few drew more attention than Pope Francis. The head of the Catholic Church (who has 18.8 million followers) lost his checkmark for a few hours, but after the change drew criticism, the Pope was quickly given a gray checkmark to indicate his association with “a government or multilateral organization account.”
Halle Berry
Status: No checkmark
Academy Award–winning actor Halle Berry (roughly 896,000 followers) made it clear she wouldn’t pay for a checkmark. The day before Twitter implemented its changes, Berry tweeted a video of herself making an entrance at a late night talk show, writing, “Me joining all of you tomorrow unverified” with a smiling emoji surrounded by hearts at the end.
William Shatner
Status: Checkmark
Last month, Star Trek star William Shatner (2.5 million followers) complained on Twitter that Musk wanted him to pay for his checkmark, writing, “I’ve been here for 15 years giving my [time] & witty thoughts all for bupkis.” Shatner did not pay, but he kept his checkmark after Musk personally paid for his Twitter Blue account and that of two others.
Stephen King
Status: Checkmark
As far back as October, best-selling author Stephen King (7.1 million followers) had said he had no intention of paying for a checkmark. Musk paid for his account, too, but King made sure to clarify that he didn’t opt in: “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
LeBron James
Status: Checkmark
Basketball star LeBron James (52.7 million followers) also said last month that he would not pay for a Twitter Blue account, and he was the third account for whom Musk personally paid. Verge editor Alex Heath reported that when Musk approached him with the offer, James turned it down, but Musk went ahead with it anyway.
Lil Nas X
Status: No checkmark
The day before Twitter made its changes, Lil Nas X (8 million followers), the rapper known for hits like “Old Town Road” and “Industry Baby,” jokingly tweeted a GIF of a SpongeBob SquarePants character begging for change, writing: “me after i lose my blue check tomorrow.”
Khloé Kardashian
Status: Checkmark
There seems to be some disagreements among the Kardashian family over whether blue checkmarks are worth the money. Khloé Kardashian (30.5 million followers) still had a checkmark as of April 21, but her sisters Kim (75.1 million) and Kourtney (26.7 million) did not.
Charli XCX
Status: No checkmark
English pop singer and songwriter Charli XCX (3.6 million followers) reveled in the fact that she had lost her checkmark, writing that she was “officially no longer an officially verified artist. i love being unofficial and unverified. it’s very moi.”
Taylor Swift
Status: Checkmark
Pop phenom Taylor Swift (92.5 million followers) still had her blue checkmark as of April 21. The Daily Beast wrote: “It’s not a shock that Taylor Swift seems to have already paid for Twitter Blue, given her longtime determination to let anyone else control her narrative.”
Beyoncé
Status: No checkmark
Multiplatinum recording artist Beyoncé Knowles (15.5 million followers) lost her checkmark, which is perhaps not surprising, since she hasn’t been very active on Twitter in recent years. Her last tweet was in July 2022, promoting her album Renaissance, and that was one of only three tweets she released that entire year.
Selena Gomez
Status: No checkmark
In March, actor and singer Selena Gomez became the first woman to reach 400 million followers on Instagram in March. Her Twitter following is decided smaller (67 million followers), so perhaps it’s unsurprisingly her verification lapsed.
Alyssa Milano
Status: No checkmark
Actor Alyssa Milano (3.5 million followers) defiantly added “NOT PAYING FOR A BLUE CHECK MARK” to her Twitter bio. In a separate tweet, she argued Musk could be liable for defamation, identify theft, or fraud, because his new system could allow others to impersonate her and “say a bunch of bulls–t.”
Grimes
Status: Checkmark
Eccentric singer/songwriter Grimes (1.3 million) still has her blue checkmark, which is perhaps not surprising since she is Musk’s ex-wife and the mother of two of his children. The day the checkmarks were removed, she was issuing supportive tweets about SpaceX, one of Musk’s other companies.
Justin Bieber
Status: No checkmark
Pop star Justin Bieber (113 million followers), who has more followers on Twitter than anyone except Musk (136 million) and Barack Obama (132.8 million), opted not to pay for a blue checkmark. Despite his large following, Bieber hasn’t tweeted since December and only tweeted four times in 2022.
Rihanna
Status: Checkmark
International pop star Rihanna (108.3 million followers) is the fourth most-followed Twitter account, just behind Bieber, and is far more active on the platform than him. She still had her blue checkmark as of April 21.
Bette Midler
Status: No checkmark
Tony Award–winning actor Bette Midler (2.1 million followers) not only lost her checkmark, she was also extremely vocal in her criticism of Musk, calling him a “worm” and accused him of implementing the new policy “because you don’t have enough money & you’re humiliated b/c everybody thinks you’re a pathetic douche.”
Ice-T
Status: Checkmark
Rapper and actor Ice-T (1.9 million followers) still has his checkmark, even though he has repeatedly stated he doesn’t care about it. He wrote in March, “F–– that checkmark… I guess it matters to some people” and tweeted in support of Stephen King’s response to his own unwanted checkmark. On Thursday, Ice-T wrote: “Maybe it’ll disappear soon. F it.”
Donald Trump
Status: No checkmark
Donald Trump (87.1 million followers) lost his blue checkmark, but the former U.S. president no longer uses his account. He was suspended from the service for his role in inciting the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, but Musk famously reactivated his account in November. Trump has not returned, however, opting instead to post on Truth Social.
Ben Shapiro
Status: Checkmark
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro (5.5 million followers) retained his checkmark. Shapiro was among about three dozen people on a list revealed last month of “VIP users” whose posts are deliberately made more visible than others.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Status: No checkmark
Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (17 million) opted not to pay for Twitter Blue. Several other current and former WWE wrestlers went the same route, as did Johnson’s daughter Ava, who took to Twitter to make sure people knew that her account was the correct one.
Colin McEvoy joined the Biography.com staff in 2023, and before that had spent 16 years as a journalist, writer, and communications professional. He is the author of two true crime books: Love Me or Else and Fatal Jealousy. He is also an avid film buff, reader, and lover of great stories.
