Author Stephen King, famous for his bestselling fictional horror novels, urged Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Saturday to take his blue check and donate it to a Ukranian charity.
After Twitter stripped blue check marks from all users who had not paid for a Twitter Blue subscription on Thursday, Musk selected to restore blue checks to Lebron James, William Shatner, and Stephen King.
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Many celebrities scoffed at being without a blue check and refused to pay $8 a month for it.
On Thursday night, King expressed confusion as to why his blue check was still there.
“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,” the author said in a tweet.
“You’re welcome namaste,” Musk responded.
Musk revealed that he was “personally paying” for certain celebrities to maintain their blue check verification status.
On Saturday, King suggested Musk use the money he was spending to pay for the author’s blue check and give it to a foundation helping people in Ukraine.
“I think Mr. Musk should give my blue check to charity. I recommend the Prytula Foundation, which provides lifesaving services in Ukraine. It’s only $8, so perhaps Mr. Musk could add a bit more,” King tweeted.
Musk pushed back on the author’s suggestion with a searing response.
“I’ve donated $100M to Ukraine,” Musk said.
“How much have you donated?” he further asked King.
Musk’s company Starlink has been instrumental in supplying Ukraine with the technology to ensure it has reliable internet connectivity, communication for Ukraine’s military, and critical satellite services using 20,000 Starlink satellite units in its war with Russia.
King has been one of the tech mogul’s harshest critics since he took over the social media platform last year, but Musk has been gracious and complimentary of the legendary writer behind bestselling novels including Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining.
“Stephen King is one of most creative people on Earth,” Musk tweeted last November.
Despite King’s criticisms, Musk offered an olive branch with an invite last year for King to visit Twitter headquarters in San Francisco.
“While I may not agree with everything he says, I do actually want to hear it,” Musk said last year.
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In response to the Twitter CEO, King shared some back-handed compliments for the billionaire.
“I think Elon Musk is a visionary. Almost singlehandedly, he’s changed the way Americans think about automobiles. I have a Tesla and love it,” King wrote, adding, “That said, he’s been a terrible fit for Twitter.”
