Halle Berry, Ciara and more stars (we think) say 'goodbye' to their blue Twitter checks

Is it an internet troll, is it a bot, or is it Halle Berry? Thanks to a new Twitter update, we can't be certain.

The social media app began removing blue checks Thursday, which included accounts owned by celebrities, journalists and other notable figures. As blue checks disappeared from accounts, stars used the opportunity to speak their mind about no longer having the Twitter distinction.

"You can take away me blue checkmark, but me cookies are off limits," the Cookie Monster tweeted Thursday.

Swiping away legacy Twitter blue checks is an effort to push users to subscribe to Twitter Blue, a paid subscription service that gives users early access to app features starting at $8 per month. The subscription service was first introduced in 2021, but was relaunched in 2022 after Elon Musk's ascent to CEO of the app last October.

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"Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20," Musk tweeted April 11. 

Musk made good on his promise and now celebs are mourning and joking on the app after seeing their checks vanish.

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Berry got in on the fun a day before the checks disappeared, tweeting a video of her walking onto a talk show with the caption: "Me joining you all tomorrow unverified."

After the changes rolled out, the "Monster's Ball" actress posted a meme from "Dexter's Laboratory" showing that she was mourning the blue badge.

"Blue check or no check… I know my fans still checkin," Ciara tweeted. 

"West Side Story" actress Rachel Zegler wrote: "goodbye little blue check! i’m free!"

"You may have taken away the checkmark, but we're still blue. #BlueCheckMark," The Blue Man Group tweeted. 

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Elmo wrote: "Elmo will miss you, little blue check mark. But don’t worry everybody, Elmo is still Elmo!"

"So if I don’t pay for a blue check mark (which I won’t), then can anybody just pay $8 to call themselves me with a 'verified' account? Cool," Joseph Gordon-Levitt wrote. 

Dionne Warwick tweeted in March she'd rather her Twitter Blue money go toward her "extra hot lattes." Thursday she wrote: "My latte this morning was wonderful."

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More high-profile users who lost their blue checks Thursday included Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump.

While some checks are gone, some have remained without signing up for Twitter Blue, which appears to include basketball star LeBron James, author Stephen King and Star Trek’s William Shatner. All have previously balked at paying, but their blue checks remain.

Musk tweeted he is "paying for a few" accounts to keep their verified check. He later tweeted he was just paying for King, Shatner and James.

"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," King wrote Thursday.

Musk replied: "You’re welcome namaste."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Twitter blue checks gone for some stars: Halle Berry, more react