Twitter verified: Pope to Harry Styles lose blue checks, but these SEC coaches still have it

The blue check is gone for many.

Several of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing verification, which distinguished them from impostors on the now Elon Musk-owned social media platform.

Twitter began removing the blue checks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee to keep them. According to reports, Twitter had about 300,000 verified users under the original blue-check system.

High-profile users who lost their blue checks Thursday included Selena Gomez, Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Cristiano, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump.

The costs of keeping the marks range from $8 a month for individual web users to a starting price of $1,000 monthly to verify an organization, plus $50 monthly for each affiliate or employee account.

Celebrity users, from basketball star LeBron James to author Stephen King and Star Trek’s William Shatner, have balked at joining — although on Thursday, all three had blue checks indicating that the account paid for verification. It was not immediately clear whether that was the case or if Twitter made an exception for them.

A few SEC football coaches, at the time of this posting, still have the blue check, however.

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, and Mississippi State’s Zach Arnett are all verified.

LSU’s Brian Kelly, Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz, Florida’s Billy Napier, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer lack that check mark.

Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher are not on Twitter.

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats and Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl aren’t verified either.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.