Twitter

The days of being verified for free on Twitter are coming to an end -- which goes for corporate accounts too ... who'll have pay a pretty penny for their verification status.

A new report from The Information suggests Elon Musk and co. are rolling out a new payment plan option for companies/brands who want to hold on to their gold checkmark ... which, up until now, was free if they were of note or importance.

Another separate reporter, Matt Navarra, appeared to confirm Twitter's plans ... which include charging business accounts $1,000 per month if they want to stay verified. Any affiliate accounts under the bigger corporate account will cost an additional $50/month.

They're calling the program Verified for Organizations, and it sounds like they're reaching out to brands now to get them onboard early. If they refuse to pony up, they'll lose their gold check and look like any other unverified Twitter user. It's unclear when this goes into effect.

It doesn't seem this new subscription plan applies to media companies, which would be at risk of phony accounts popping up and posing as them ... thus, spreading fake news.

On the contrary, this looks to be aimed more so at straight up corporations -- like Target, Bank of America, etc. -- that are strictly in the business of selling goods and services ... and turning a profit. It also sounds like a ploy to make quick cash, which Twitter reportedly really needs these days -- with mounting lawsuits from all ends and ongoing staff shortages.

Of course, this is just the latest money-making gimmick from Elon. In addition to this, he's still desperately trying to get people to sign up for Twitter Blue any way he can -- which is $8/month and guarantees virtual nobodies a blue checkmark, for whatever that's worth.

Meanwhile, tons of old legacy accounts -- like journos/other people of note -- continue to rock their blue checkmarks (for free, it seems) and public officials now have grey checks.

Bryan Kohberger -- the man charged with the University of Idaho student massacre -- is already getting the bizarre affection from women obsessed with alleged mass murderers.

Brittney Hislope has written a series of Facebook posts professing her love for the accused murderer of 4 college classmates, gushing that Kohberger is the “perfect man” for her.

In one post, Hislope said, “My love interest … is named Bryan and is accused of murder, and I just wish to connect with him above anyone else.”

She added, “One way to describe my feelings for him over the last week or so … is kind of like being lovesick.”

Hislope started posting her passionate letters to Kohberger January 4 ... just a few days after the former PhD criminology grad student had been arrested at his parent's home in Pennsylvania for the murders.

The single Kentucky mom, who has a 16-year-old son, pointed out she and Kohberger shared some things in common, such as their astrological signs — both are apparently Scorpios. She also claimed they have similar birth charts, making Kohberger her “divine masculine counterpart.”

In another IG post, Hislop referenced the strange love scene between Jason Patric and Jamie Gertz in the 1987 vampire movie, "The Lost Boys." She said, "Although it’s not very explicit, I’d want to be with my love interest Bryan in those ways.”

Michael Blackson says Eli Apple is ruthless with the Twitter fingers ... telling TMZ Sports he's not one bit surprised about his nephew's trash-talking antics -- 'cause it "runs in the family!!"

Apple made headlines throughout the playoffs for speaking his mind on social media ... going after opposing teams and gloating each time the Bengals came out victorious.

The actor-comedian told us he was cheering on his kin against the Kansas City Chiefs on championship Sunday ... but admits if he were Eli, he would have waited until after he won a Super Bowl ring to get at his contemporaries.

"I was rooting for him," Blackson said. "I always believe in talking smack once you get that ring. Once you get that ring, then you can talk smack."

Michael said despite what some people say about Eli, there are a lot of cornerbacks who want to be in his position -- playing in back-to-back AFC title games and the SB last season.

Michael also told us his thoughts on the big game -- he says the first-ever Super Bowl between two black quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts, "means a lot."

"Finally, Black quarterbacks are getting recognized," Blackson said. "At one point, nobody thought running quarterbacks would make it to the Super Bowl."

MB expects the game to be a high-scoring affair ... and predicts the Eagles will defeat the Chiefs, 28-24, but says you can never count out Mahomes.

"Patrick Mahomes is a kid that never goes down," Blackson said. "This guy finds ways to stay in the game and finds ways to win the game. We have to contain him. He runs all over the place."

Alyssa Milano has extended an olive branch to Britney Spears after being publicly called out by the singer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the actress tells us Alyssa reached out to Britney privately Wednesday to apologize after BS took to Instagram to slam a tweet of Alyssa's that she considered "bullying." As for how AM got the message across ... Brit sources tell us she sent a private message Britney's way this morning.

It's unclear if Britney reacted to Alyssa's apology, or what exactly Alyssa said in her message. We do know, however, that Alyssa expressed support for Britney in her correspondence.

ICYMI, Britney posted to her IG Story Tuesday, honing in on a tweet Alyssa fired off in December, which read ... "Someone please go check on Britney Spears." This is when she was off the radar and fans were concerned -- speculating she'd been re-conserved.

In response, Britney wrote ... "It saddens me to see things about me from people who don't know me!!! This definitely feels like a form of bullying!!!" She added, "Ladies, we are supposed to be rooting for one another not pulling one another down!!!"

Britney's been out in public since December, of course, but that outing didn't seem to go all that well ... at least from the outside looking in. Remember, we'd been told she appeared to be having a manic episode at a restaurant -- but both she and her husband denied it.

Ozzy Osbourne is canceling his upcoming tour, as well as the rest of his touring days for good ... citing a decline in his physical health that's preventing him from getting onstage.

The rocker announced Wednesday he's hanging it up on live shows ... starting with a slate of performances scheduled in the UK and Europe, which was supposed to begin in May. The tour was a continuation of a canceled Ozzy tour during COVID times.

Ozzy says an accident he suffered 4 years ago -- falling in 2019 and reaggravating an old neck/back injury from years ago -- hasn't quite gone according to plan in terms of recovery ... even now. Despite numerous surgeries, treatments and PT ... Ozzy says he still feels weak.

He adds, "I am honestly humbled by the way you've all patiently held onto your tickets for all this time, but in all good conscience, I have now come to the realization that I'm not physically capable." Ozzy goes on to say that it hurts him he might be letting down fans.

One final heartfelt note from him ... "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way. My team is currently coming up with ideas where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country."

Ozzy thanks his family, his band, his crew and his longtime friends in Judas Priest for the loyalty, support and dedication to him and his career for all these years.

Of course, we've been aware of Ozzy's health-related setbacks for a good while now ... but all this time, he's said he was determined to get back into the spotlight to do what he loves most. All the while ... his wife and former manager, Sharon Osbourne, has been by his side.

She, herself, has been through some health scares -- and some controversies -- in recent years as well ... but she's been steadfast in supporting Ozzy through and through, and he's been there for there her in return.

Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany, gave Eli Apple a taste of his own medicine after the Chiefs beat the Bengals on Sunday ... trolling the Cincy cornerback for running his mouth in the days leading up to the game.

Apple was oozing confidence on social media after the Bengals eliminated Buffalo last week ... channeling his inner Patrick Beverley and telling the Bills players to enjoy their early vacation as Cincy moved on in the playoffs.

As soon as the Bengals were booted from Super Bowl contention themselves, it was Brittany's time to get the last laugh.

"Cancun on 3 ✌🏼," Mahomes said on Twitter.

It wasn't just the superstar's wife going after Apple following the game ... 'cause Chiefs players unleashed on him while smoking victory cigars in the locker room.

"Eli Apple, I'mma smoke one for you!!" Juan Thornhill said on Instagram.

Even Patrick's dad had some words for the Bengals' superstar quarterback  ... saying he'll celebrate the W by "smoking on that Joe Burrow."

The Chiefs played like they were pissed off ... and Travis Kelce and others made it clear they felt disrespected by Mike Hilton referring to Arrowhead Stadium as "Burrowhead."

Sam Smith's new music video is stirring the pot for its NSFW content -- but it's also sparking debate on an interesting question ... is sexuality just a straight person's game???

The nonbinary singer dropped the visual treatment for their latest single "I'm Not Here To Make Friends," which is featured on their recently-released album, "Gloria." Safe to say, 'INHTMF' is in your face when it comes to showing off skin and sexually suggestive scenes.

Sam is depicted in several eye-popping outfits, including one where their chest is on display with nipple pasties in place. There are also moments where SS is being sprayed in the face with water ... which kinda looks like something typically left behind closed doors.

Of course, the backup dancers and extras are flaunting their stuff in scantily-clad getups all throughout ... so, objectively, it checks the box for a traditionally provocative project.

Now, the controversy ... Sam has been trending all weekend over this video, mostly invoking outrage from people on the right -- who feel like it's wildly inappropriate ... especially as it pertains to age restrictions and kids who might stumble across it on YouTube.

The argument from that end is that 'I'm Not Here' is just a hyper-sexualized demonstration of perversion for the hell of it, masked as body positivity and LGBTQ+ empowerment.

Of course, not everyone sees it that way. In fact, the rebuttal coming from the other side is ... where's all the outrage when we see cisgender heterosexual men and women doing the same thing (if not worse) in music videos of the past??? It's a fair question to pose.

One individual broke down this apparent double standard quite well on TikTok -- influencer, Max Hovey came to Sam's defense and said the backlash is misguided and misplaced.

Basically, the idea that someone who doesn't fit society's conventional beauty standards can't openly express their sexuality on camera without flack -- while others can get away with it unscathed -- is screwed up ... according to Max and others who agree with him.

FWIW, Sam doesn't seem too bothered by all the discourse -- they're continuing to promote the hell out of this thing and posting clips and stills from the video without reservation.

Zachary Levi said something that Twitter's taking as an anti-vax stance -- which could spell trouble for Warner Bros. Discovery ... 'cause he's got a blockbuster movie to promote.

The actor -- who plays the lead in the "Shazam!" franchise -- replied to a question posed on the bird app by Lyndon Wood, who asked ... "Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?" ZL's response made no bones about how he feels, "Hardcore agree."

There's not much more context beyond that, and right away ... Twitter users started bashing the dude and labeling him as a right-winger spewing anti-vax rhetoric. This also prompted people to pull up old clips of Zach that they view as problematic -- including a Joe Rogan interview he did a few years ago, where they talked about Elliot Page and Jordan Peterson.

Of course, the jokes also started to fly in regards to WBD and how the execs there might be reacting to this news ... on its face, it comes across as a PR nightmare -- especially with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" on the horizon and a press tour that'll undoubtedly come with it.

Welp, Zach caught wind of all the hubbub and attempted to clarify ... tweeting a link to a 2009 DOJ press release touching on a fraud case Pfizer was involved in at the time, when they agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement. He says this is what he was referring to.

In other words, he's now trying to make it seem like he was expressing a view against corruption in big pharma -- but, frankly, Twitter isn't really buying it ... especially amid the latest Project Veritas drop, which has been top of mind in much of conservative media.

Time will tell how this might affect things with the water tower team. One could argue WBD had a way bigger scandal on its hands with Ezra Miller ... and they ended up salvaging that pretty nicely. Their movie isn't canceled -- it's actually due to come out later this year.

Of course, it all comes down to what James Gunn and Peter Safran wanna do with "Shazam!". They're at the helm of DC now, and they've scrapped A LOT in recent months.

Hulk Hogan apparently had a bathroom catastrophe on Wednesday ... and instead of hitting up a buddy, his account sent out a cry for help to his 2.2 million followers.

"I ran out of toilet paper brother, help!!!!!!!!" Hogan's tweet said ... which, naturally, led a bunch of quick social media users to screenshot the message before it was ultimately deleted.

Now, it's unclear if Hulk's account was hacked -- he returned to his regular tweeting by posting a pic with his longtime wrestling pals Ted DiBiase, Diamond Dallas Page, Madusa, Jimmy Hart and IRS a few minutes later -- or if he meant to actually text someone to bring him some T.P.

Regardless, the tweets are hilarious ... and we're just going to assume the latter is what happened.

Hulk has yet to address the tweets ... and chances are, he might never bring it up.

Eli Apple says he was NOT trying to diss Damar Hamlin on Twitter after the Bengals beat the Bills on Sunday ... claiming he would never make light of the Buffalo safety's medical emergency.

The tweet in question came late Monday night ... when the 6-year NFL cornerback quote tweeted Stefon Diggs' post addressing his emotions after the game.

"Cancun on 3," Apple replied in the tweet ... ending it with a hand heart emoji.

Many believed the emoji was a reference to Hamlin, who has been known to do the heart hands throughout his career ... and most recently, following his in-game collapse on Jan. 2.

In fact, the 24-year-old safety made the gesture during the divisional round matchup while sitting in the Highmark Stadium suite.

Hamlin's teammate, Shaq Lawson, called Apple out on it ... saying the disrespect won't be tolerated and "that s*** get you beat up frfr. Keep it on the field."

But Apple -- who re-signed with the Bengals last March -- denied the shade, saying Tuesday he would never joke about a serious incident like that.

"All love thoughts prayers and concerns to @HamlinIsland as he continues to recover from that tragic incident," Apple said via Twitter.

"Never would I make light of that scary unfortunate scene. This game is truly a dangerous risk to our bodies mind and spirit. Nothing but love to all my football brothers."

A statue honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, was unveiled this week -- depicting a famous hug they gave each other ... but not everyone sees that.

The art piece is called "The Embrace," and it was shown off in public for the first time Friday ... with a large crowd on hand in the Freedom Plaza of the Boston Common to help ring in the new addition to the space. Some King family members were also there for the honor.

Sculptor Hank Willis Thomas is the man behind the monument -- and he says he designed "The Embrace" after a 1964 photo of MLK wrapping Coretta up after hearing he'd won the Nobel Peace Prize that year. However, he decided to just show off their arms interlocking.

While the sculpture is being praised by many, it's being questioned by others -- especially on Twitter, where some can't understand why the creator didn't include their heads.

Even more people online are doing double takes ... saying they interpret the piece in different ways, especially from certain angles. For instance, some say it looks like one of the arms is holding onto a thigh -- which comes across as inappropriate for the select few who see it that way.

Of course, there are those who are outright mocking it, despite the seriousness of the subject. Everybody's a critic, we suppose -- and this one's in the eye of the beholder. 🤷🏽‍♂️

A viral article out of the UK is posing an interesting request -- pleading with the public (and the media) to stop using the word "queer" ... as the author apparently views it as a slur.

The brief opinion piece -- which also seems to be a letter to the editor -- appeared in the Guardian this week ... and the headline simply read, "Please don’t use the Q-word." It's written by a fella named Karl Lockwood, who says he's a gay man of nearly 7 decades.

In the 113-word editorial, Lockwood hones into a Guardian piece written last week, which notes that England and Wales had started to count trans and nonbinary people in their census for the first time ever -- while pointing out only 15,000 ID'd specifically as queer.

He adds, "I suspect that many of the others, like me, consider the term to be insulting and derogatory, and certainly not 'reclaimed'. I am a gay man of 66 years with many friends and acquaintances, and know no one who would refer to themselves as queer. It would seem a small minority of activists has encouraged the media to use the word without considering its offensiveness to many people. You wouldn’t use the N-word, so don’t use the Q-word."

In other words, he's referring to a time when "queer" was used to bully others -- which he feels qualifies it as hate speech ... and thus, warrants its censoring in public discourse.

It's an interesting argument, but most of Twitter seems to strongly disagree with this guy ... with a lot of folks on the bird app calling it cloaked "TERF" talk that only serves to erase queer people from the larger conversation. Some also think it targets transgender folks.

Of course, there's also the issue of comparing the use of "queer" to the n-word, which has people fired up. Many say the juxtaposition is apples to oranges -- and that conflating the two is a huge disservice to Black people, not to mention LGBTQ+ people of color.

FedEx is vowing to help Detroit Lions star Taylor Decker ... after the star tackle accused the delivery giant of losing a delivery of breast milk meant for his newborn baby and initially refusing to make amends.

It started when 29-year-old Decker ripped FedEx on Friday ... saying the company lost a big shipment of frozen milk for his 3-month-old baby girl, Daisy Faye Decker, and then refused to pay him back, infuriating the OT.

"Shoutout FedEx for losing a perishable 24-hour shipment of a month supply of milk for my newborn, and responding that there is nothing they can do, and will not reimburse me. What a joke", Taylor wrote on Twitter.

Well, the complaint was blasted out to Decker's 114K followers, which seemed to get the attention of the folks at FedEx HQ ... who told us they're in contact with Decker and are trying to "resolve the issue."

Decker says it's not as easy as just running to the store and replacing the milk ... it's his wife's breast milk that the couple froze and shipped to Arizona for the offseason.

Before taking to social media to air his grievances, Taylor says he drove across Phoenix to 4 different FedEx locations, trying to track down the milk.

Dr. Dre just went in hard on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, threatening her with legal action for exploiting his music "to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda."

Dre's lawyer, Howard King, fired off a letter to Greene, saying "Mr. Young [Dre] has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music."

As we reported, Greene posted a video of her walking to the House floor Monday, using Dre's song, "Still D.R.E." as the music bed.

King fired off a demand letter to Twitter, asking the company to block her post. For its part, Twitter not only blocked the post ... it also locked her Twitter account.

But King wasn't done. Dre's lawyer went after her in a blistering way, saying "you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It's possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on."

Dre and King were not done ... "We're writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers."

And then the ultimatum ... King demanded that Green cease and desist from using any of Dre's music, and he set a time deadline ... "please provide me with written confirmation that you have complied with these demands before January 11, 2023 by 5:00 pm EST."

Before the letter was sent, Greene told TMZ, "While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs."

We will follow up on this ... promise!

Bob Saget's wife Kelly Rizzo is making sure the world remembers her husband on the anniversary of his death ... sharing a heartfelt tribute and requesting that his legacy lives on with the help of a blue checkmark on Twitter.

Kelly took to Instagram Monday, posting a series of pics and videos writing, "One Year. Our hearts are so heavy. How could I not have talked to or seen my loving husband in a whole year? The surreal-ness never subsides. I’ve accepted the reality long ago but it still seems unreal when I see photos or videos of him so full of life."

She also tweeted directly at Elon Musk, asking Bob's Twitter account -- with more than 2 million followers -- get verified, writing, "I saw he’s no longer verified? My husband truly loved Twitter. Out of respect for his legacy, can something be done? Thank you kindly."

She continues, "And the only reason I’m addressing this at all is because I know Bob would be very bummed about this. He’d say “hey, if someone goes to see my page and all the jokes I’ve tweeted over the years, how will they know it’s for sure me!?”"

Lizzo is starting the new year with a list of grievances about the state of social media -- including the notion that "cancel culture" has been warped into something unrecognizable.

The singer has been expressing a lot of opinions lately about what she sees as total nonsense when it comes to what people focus on online -- especially as it relates to her. On Sunday, though, she had a new thought ... namely, that cancel culture itself is appropriation.

Here's how Lizzo puts it ... "There was real outrage from truly marginalized people and now it’s become trendy, misused and misdirected." She adds, "I hope we can phase out of this & focus our outrage on the real problems." In the comments, several people seem to agree.

Her cancel culture theory is just the latest idea she's voiced on this issue. Earlier this week, she was addressing social media discourse at large -- suggesting users (probably Twitter ones) needed to do a better job at filtering truth from fiction before jumping to conclusions.

This goes beyond people having full-blown debates about her figure, BTW -- which continues to be a subject of conversation. Now, there seems to be talk about Lizzo's music, and which groups she may or may not be catering to ... not to mention opinions on her race.

Speaking of fat-shaming, Lizzo is again tackling that head-on. It seems she's receiving a bit of what Adele was subjected to when she noticeably lost weight ... people criticizing her for not "loving herself" as she was -- this after she'd been mercilessly mocked for years when she was doing exactly that and championing body positivity. A lose-lose scenario, really.

Of course, some might say she'd be better off tuning all of this noise out and carrying on with her business -- but Lizzo's never been one to bite her tongue. On the contrary, she speaks her mind ... which is what so many people love about her to begin with.