Ricky Gervais leads reactions as celebrities mock Elon Musk over ‘blue tick’ disappearance

Celebrities like Ricky Gervais and Richard Osman have reacted to losing their “blue tick” on Twitter.

Eventually, at the behest of Twitter CEO Elon Musk, the social media platform removed the “verified out of date” tags on celebrity profiles, requiring users to pay a monthly fee to be “verified.”

Critics of the change have argued that the move will make spreading misinformation much easier, as users will no longer be able to tell whether a celebrity account is legitimate or not.

As the “blue ticks” began to disappear from user profiles late Thursday (April 20), those who had previously been “verified” began mocking the transition.

“My blue tick is gone. I’m not sure if I’m really me or not,” Gervais wrote alongside a photo of his pouty face in the bath.

Osman, star of useless and a best-selling author, wrote: “Farewell blue tick old friend.

“Don’t forget to always set your feed to ‘Follow’ instead of ‘For you.’ Then you continue to see the people you actually follow and not people who have paid for attention.”

Musk announced that he personally paid three celebrities — basketball star LeBron James, actor William Shatner, and writer Stephen King — to subscribe to Twitter Blue. All three had previously signaled that they did not want to pay.

King made this clear to his followers, writing: “My Twitter account says I’m subscribed to Twitter Blue. I did not. My twitter account says I provided a phone number. I did not.

“Just so you know.”

Ice T, meanwhile, wrote: “The fact that we’re even discussing blue ticks is a sad moment in society. Smh lol.”

While celebrities no longer have “blue ticks”, government organizations as well as government officials, companies or media institutions remain verified.