Ronaldo and Trump snubbed by 'crazy dude' Elon Musk

Robin Bairner

• 21 Apr 2023 11:03 BST
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of a number of football superstars to have lost their blue tick on Twitter following the social media platform’s decision to make users pay for the privilege.

Previously, blue ticks marked accounts of note from verified users or companies, but a decision was taken by Twitter owner Elon Musk, who was briefly linked with a takeover bid for Manchester United, to make this a subscription service.

It is a call that has provoked debate on the future of the platform, with Ronaldo, who has over 108 million followers, among the superstars to see their tick withdrawn in a cull that took place on 20 April.

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This is despite having the fifth-biggest account on the platform, behind only Musk, Barack Obama, Justin Bieber and Rihanna.

Bieber is among the other leading users to have been stripped of a blue tick, with President Donald Trum’s account another to have its official status withdrawn.

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Manchester City pair Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte are among those who have criticised the decision.

Mahrez said: “Already lost it [verification] once, not scared of not having it anymore. I'm not paying for this weird ideas lol.”

Laporte, meanwhile, tweeted: “Damn Elon what did u do lol”

After being asked why he refused to pay the $8-per-month subscription fee, he replied: “That's not the point tho I'm not paying for something that was perfectly fine before some crazy dude decided to change everything lol.”

Ronaldo not given a blue tick

While a vast array of Premier League players have had their ticks withdrawn, reports suggest that Musk is funding the Twitter accounts of an array of high-profile users.

NBA star LeBron James is among those who still boasts the blue tick, and it is speculated that this is one of the accounts that Musk is personally funding. Twitter’s owner has confirmed that he is indeed paying for some users to retain their official status, he has not disclosed who this involves.

Ronaldo, though, is conspicuous by his absence from this list, with his account notably bare of official status. This may be because the five-time Ballon d’Or winner only infrequently uses Twitter and has typically preferred Instagram as his social media platform in recent months.