Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain are the latest stars to regain their blue ticks in Twittera distinctive symbol of the authenticity and reliability of an account obtained by paying $8 per month and verifying a mobile phone.

Only a popular actor, the best basketball player and a famous chef they are not alive.

Their accounts – and others at least 10 dead celebrities– retained a blue check mark on their account stating “This account is verified because it is on Twitter Blue and has verified a phone number.”

This is the latest in a series of sweeping changes to Twitter’s new ownership mode, in line with Elon Musk which acquired Wednesday last October for $44 billion. Since then, the influencer has laid off over 75% of the company’s workforce, changed the platform’s timeline, and removed the blue tick from thousands of previously verified accounts belonging to well-known artists, politicians, scientists, journalists, activists, and more.

So, the tick disappeared from the accounts of such famous people as Justin Bieber, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, but mostly from the accounts of thousands of scientists, journalists, and activists. Even @jack, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has lost the tick on his account.

Politically, many elected officials have also lost the blue tick, but some have gained the gray tick reserved for the accounts of governments and certain organizations. This is the case of Kevin McCarthy, the head of the Republicans in the House of Representatives.

However, it emerged over the weekend that many celebrity accounts kept their blue tick despite not being paid the $8 commission.

Elon Musk has said that on at least three occasions with celebrities, including Stephen King, he paid for the subscription himself.

As for the cases of people who are no longer alive, it’s not clear if someone paid to sign up for Twitter Blue or if Twitter decided to give away the blue tick feature for free. It is noted that some of these accounts remain inactive after the death of people, while others are still active through administrators.

Source: Washington Post.