Elon Musk Claps Back at Stephen King

Knowledge Nuggets:

• Stephen King challenged Elon Musk to donate to a Ukraine charity and criticized Twitter for falsely claiming he subscribed to Twitter Blue.
• Elon Musk responded by saying he donated $100M to Ukraine and questioned King’s donations.
• Twitter removed legacy verification badges, causing controversy and confusion among prominent figures like Stephen King.

Elon Musk is not one to back down from a challenge, and he certainly didn’t when horror author Stephen King came after him on Twitter recently.

King had criticized Musk for having a blue check mark on Twitter without subscribing to the platform’s blue check service, which now costs $8 per month.

The author also recommended that Musk donate to the Prytula Foundation, a charity that provides lifesaving services in Ukraine.

In response, Musk clapped back by revealing that he had donated $100 million to Ukraine and questioned King’s own donations.

He also noted that his SpaceX organization had continued to fund its Starlink service in Ukraine despite declining money from the Department of Defense.

Twitter also faced controversy recently after removing legacy verification badges from users’ accounts, causing many journalists, actors, and other notable figures like former President Donald Trump to lose their verification.

Twitter now requires individuals and businesses, regardless of how prominent, to subscribe to its blue check service to have a blue check mark on their account. Some celebrities have retained the check mark but said publicly they haven’t subscribed, causing further confusion.

As for Stephen King, it remains to be seen if he will take up Musk’s challenge to donate more to Ukraine.

One thing is clear, however: this Twitter exchange between the two figures highlights the ongoing debates around social media verification and charitable giving.

Source: NY Post