Halle Berry and a host of other stars have reacted to losing their blue checkmarks on Twitter.
For those who are unaware, the social media platform known for its wide use of a blue checkmark verification badge - used to distinguish businesses, government officials, and celebrities from regular accounts - began removing the symbol from many of its most prominent platform users on Thursday (April 20).
The change comes after an update to Twitter's subscription service Twitter Blue, which allows only paying users to be given the blue check mark on their profile in exchange for $8 a month.
As a result, the company revealed in late March that all users not subscribing to the service will lose their blue checkmarks, also known as blue ticks.
Elon Musk took over the tech company in October 2022 for a whopping $44 billion, and in that time he has reportedly laid off 50% of the company's workforce, appointed himself the sole director, and eliminated working from home. The takeover has been the subject of drama and headlines in the months following.
A slew of famous faces quit the app - including Whoopi Goldberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Toni Braxton.
"I'm shocked and appalled at some of the 'free speech' I've seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of 'free speech' is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other [people of color]," RnB icon Braxton had tweeted before leaving the app.
Then, almost two weeks after taking over the company, Musk sent out a bizarre company-wide email to Twitter's employees. In that email, the South African-born billionaire offered six rules to "insane productivity."
Musk also appeared to offer staff an ultimatum, writing: "Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade."
The email - which was obtained by CNN and contained the subject line "a fork in the road" - also stated that employees who did not want to continue under these new conditions would have until 5:00 PM the next day (which was November 17) to resign via an online form. "If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below," the email stated.
Now that removing blue checkmarks has been added to the list, numerous celebrities who've lost theirs have come out to complain.
Ciara tweeted: "Blue check or no check… I know my fans still checkin [...].
Rapper The Game had a humorous approach, writing: "Check gone but the checks still comin."
Halle Berry even poked fun at the situation, tweeting a meme to her account with two simple laughing emojis.
It's great that the celebs are mocking the move - after all, it's not worth crying over some blue ticks.