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Elon Musk has ordered his company, Twitter, to strip the New York Times of their verified checkmark effective immediately -- and it appears he targeted them out of pure spite.

Here's the deal ... the NYT lost its blue/gold checkmark Sunday (we can't even keep up with the colors anymore), which guaranteed verification and authenticated the account as a legit news organization. The timing and reason is no secret ... Elon made the call from the top.

The reason we know that is because EM himself commented on the state of the Times from his personal Twitter account, kinda crapping on them ... literally. He writes, "The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting."

Elon adds, "Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable. They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications." BTW, the Times is the only major legacy news co. to lose its check so far.

Now, as for why the NYT was quite clearly singled out ... well, it seems like Elon was made aware that they publicly said they wouldn't be shelling out to pay for their gold check going forward -- something that all companies will now have to do at a rate of $1,000/month.

They went on record this past week to say ... "We aren't planning to pay the monthly fee for verification of our institutional Twitter accounts." They also said they wouldn't be reimbursing most employees for their own verified accounts either ... except a select few.

They were far from the only media companies to say something similar, FWIW -- CNN, WaPo and the LA Times (just to name a few) are planning to do the same thing ... AKA, not pay.

However, in what looks to be since-deleted tweets from Elon ... he was allegedly only notified about the Times' defiant stance, specifically -- and based on these screengrabs from Twitter sleuths, it sounds like he may have taken it personally and pulled the trigger on 'em early.

One alleged tweet of his says he's going to give folks a few weeks to make the shift (to paying either $8/mo or $1,000/mo) but when he learned the NYT already dug their heels in ... he appears to have said, "OH YEAH?!?" Wouldn't you know it -- now NYT is unverified.

Elon Musk and co. are making a major change to Twitter starting this month -- and it's going affect just about every verified celeb out there ... many of whom aren't happy about it.

Of course, we're talking about the coveted blue checkmarks -- which, for years, have served as the official verification system on the bird app ... to distinguish prominent public figures and other people of note from all the normies. Word is, that's all coming to an end in April.

Going forward, Elon has said he's going to start charging people $8/month for Twitter Blue subscriptions -- giving 'em the option to buy their blue check. Not just that, but he's discontinuing legacy verifications ... that stripping-down is supposed to start today, April 1st.

In other words, all the stars that have enjoyed official verification status are going to be just like the rest of us -- and a good handful are already mourning, Chrissy Teigen included.

She jokingly bid her blue check status farewell with a cheeky response ... indicating she ain't ponying up the cash to stay verified. Ditto for a ton of other celebs, some of whom seem genuinely peeved about this. Jason Alexander says he's outta here if he loses his check.

William Shatner also recently sounded pretty annoyed by the lack of checks and balances in Twitter's new space, writing ... "Hey @elonmusk what’s this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter? I’ve been here for 15 years giving my ⏰ & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this-the Colombia Records & Tape Club?" And Dionne Warwick, too, griped about it.

She writes, "I am not paying for a blue check. That money could (and will) be going towards my extra hot lattes." Ice-T said something similar this week ... vowing to go blue check-less if push comes to shove. As we reported ... LeBron James promised something similar.

A lot of stars seem to be willing to lose their verification if it means they gotta pay, but as of now -- just about everyone still has their checks ... so maybe this is an April Fools' joke?

Probably not. Just a couple days ago, Elon was pointing folks in the direction of Twitter's Verified Organizations system -- which seems geared toward making sure companies, news orgs and other notable entities continue to stay verified on Twitter ... sans impersonation.

Everyone else, though -- including individual journos, etc. -- might have to shell out if they want their blue checks. It's sure to be a s***show for a bit ... we'll see where the chips land.

A death metal concert became a calamity Friday night after a vicious storm ripped through an Illinois auditorium, killing one person and injuring 28 others.

The packed show at the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, IL, kicked off about 30 minutes before the massive storm rolled into town, causing the roof to collapse onto some of the more than 260 concertgoers.

Morbid Angel, Revocation, Crypta and Skeletal Remains were all scheduled to hit the stage, but the roof came crashing down and people got trapped underneath the wreckage.

Check out video that surfaced online ... showing the aftermath of the destruction during the mad rush to find victims under the debris.

Firefighters responded to a "mass casualty" incident around 7:30 PM.

Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle announced one person was killed and over two dozen were injured.

Five of the surviving victims were seriously hurt, five others suffered minor injuries, and 18 more sustained moderate injuries. All 28 were hospitalized.

Everyone who attended the performance was accounted for by 10:15 PM.

Colleges in China are giving students a spring break mission -- don't just hook up, get to know each other and maybe even fall in love ... as the country's seeing a drastic decline in birth and marriage rates.

Nine colleges, all run by the Fan Mei Education Group, are asking students to use their annual week-long hiatus to "get in touch with nature, and with your heart feel the beauty of spring," and most importantly ... "Go fall in love."

The schools have a heavy focus on romance this time around, although the break's been an annual event since 2019 ... just without the boning angle.

The love-making plea comes at a pretty fitting time -- China's facing massive dips in marriage and birth rates, and the country's been going all-in on getting those numbers back up ... with this college instruction being one of the latest methods.

Many businesses and provinces have reportedly been trying to come up with other effective ways to boost the stats ... like implementing a 30-day paid marriage leave or campaigns looking for city women to hook up with older rural men. We smell a reality show!

Looks like all the schools participating are vocational schools, specializing in aviation -- so go do your homework and join that mile-high club!

Billie Eilish isn't letting mother nature rain out her parade -- when a severe storm forced her to cancel a show in Mexico, Billie played on with an acoustic set for her drenched fans.

The singer hit the stage at the Foro Sol CDMX Wednesday night in Mexico City ... the latest stop on her Happier Than Ever Tour -- but instead of performing her usual concert, Billie announced she had to switch things up.

She told the crowd she'd be unable to perform due to the heavy rain ... and she'd been told everyone had to go home.

Clearly, though, Billie wasn't leaving that easily.

She told fans, "I thought it was stupid for me to leave without coming out saying thank you for being here, and standing in the f***ing pouring rain." Then she added she was still going to sing a few songs acoustically if the fans were down.

Of course, it wasn't the show anyone had planned ... but the mini-show seemed to go over well with fans as they cheered and sang along with Billie. She promised to make up the full concert at a later date. It's now been announced the rescheduled concert will be Thursday night.

Billie was joined onstage by her brother and music partner Finneas O'Connell ... who strummed an acoustic guitar as she sang her heart out.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is amused by Elon Musk and others who think AI technology is a threat to humanity ... he thinks the doomsday bunch are watching too many movies.

We got the famed astrophysicist at LAX Wednesday, and he snickered at Musk, Steve Wozniak and 1,100 others who sounded the alarm in an open letter that AI has become a "dangerous race" that could imperil our very existence ... they want a 6-month moratorium on AI development to assess the risks.

The way Neil sees it ... it's nothing new. We have seen the twists and turns triggered by the technological revolution for more than 100 years. When jobs get replaced by machines, people find new jobs. And here's the big point ... if AI eventually takes over all jobs, we can all go to the beach. After all, going to work is not embedded in our DNA, so society could reimagine how humans live.

The beach vs. work ... so who you rootin' for?

The growth of AI technology is going too far too quickly and dangerously -- at least, according to tech giants Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak ... who've joined a huge group of leaders asking developers to temporarily call it quits.

Musk, Wozniak and more than 1,100 others in the technology industry all signed an open letter from Future of Life Institute ... calling out developers of AI software, because they might not be aware of the "catastrophic" risks that can come with it.

The concerned leaders call the rapid growth a "dangerous race," and they're asking labs to take a 6-month break to allow for further risk assessment on AI. They're also asking the government to intervene if developers refuse to pause.

The signees go on to point out that competing AI labs are pushing hard to develop the best version out there, and might not be aware of what could come from it ... with the eerie possibility that AI could soon no longer need human interference to make its own decisions.

Others standing with Musk and Wozniak are Andrew Yang, the co-founder of Pinterest, professors from across the nation, and loads of AI researchers.

Keep in mind, Elon co-founded the company OpenAI, which created ChatGPT ... one of the leading AI programs currently available to the public. So, if HE wants to slow down AI, it's gotta make you think.

A California skydiver's jump on Monday nearly ended in tragedy -- she crash-landed into power lines -- but, thankfully, she was able to miraculously walk away from the scene unharmed.

The Riverside County Fire Department said it got a call regarding the stuck skydiver at around 11:53 a.m. on Monday.

Firefighters rushed to the scene in Lake Elsinore ... but they had to leave the woman hanging for 40 minutes as utility workers needed to cut the power from the wires before they could safely extract her.

In photos from the scene, you can see the woman was entwined in a powerline as first responders raced to get her down safely. Eventually, they were able to untangle her and bring her down to the ground, where she was evaluated by medics.

Thankfully, the woman was uninjured ... and later explained to NBC Los Angeles that she was trying to avoid another power line on her way down to the landing zone, causing her to crash.

The female skydiver, a student at Skydive Elsinore, was apparently jumping for the first time with her own equipment.

"The parachute opened properly and was in perfect working order," Skydive Elsinore said to NBC Los Angeles.

"At some point during the parachute descent, the jumper became confused and flew away from an open landing area and into to powerlines."

Glad everyone made it out safely.

Adnan Syed, the man whose murder conviction was overturned after 23 years behind bars, is heading back to court -- his conviction's been reinstated, but it doesn't necessarily mean he's going back to prison.

Here's the deal ... the family of Syed's victim, Hae Min Lee, successfully appealed the overturning of his conviction -- a decision prosecutors in Maryland made last year, but the family said they were completely blindsided by his release.

On Tuesday, a Maryland appeals court reinstated Syed's murder conviction, and now a new hearing will take place ... where new DNA evidence supporting his claim of innocence could be presented.

As we reported, the family of Hae Min -- who was murdered in 1999 -- didn't think the new evidence was enough to release Syed, and they were upset it was never presented during trial.

Bottom line: They want their day in court, because they still believe Syed -- whose case was heavily publicized on the "Serial" podcast -- is responsible for Hae Min's murder.

The appeals court move will, at least, give them that -- with the conviction reinstated, the evidentiary hearing will ultimately determine whether Syed remains free or returns to prison.

BTW -- Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby told us back in September her team tried many ways to notify the Lee family about Syed's release, insisting they wouldn't have dug deeper on the DNA evidence without first contacting them.

You'll recall, Syed filed multiple appeals while behind bars, but was constantly rejected. The popularity of "Serial" in 2014 brought his case national attention ... and made many listeners question his guilt.

Antoine Dodson -- the guy who became Internet famous for a very memorable interview says he's fine with white people using Black memes ... because they pay for it, literally.

We spoke to the viral star -- whose iconic quotes from the 2010 WAFF news piece, including "hide your kids, hide your wife," were turned into a catchy song -- and he weighed in on the CNN digital Blackface controversy. As it turns, out, he has quite a bit to say about it.

Antoine tells us the argument that whites are maliciously mocking African Americans -- intentionally or otherwise -- through the use of GIFs/memes just isn't his experience. If anything, he says he's only encountered reverence from Caucasians for his own meme fame ... which has translated to cold hard cash when they hire him as talent. Top dollar, at that.

Check out AD's perspective for yourself, because the way he breaks this down is unique ... and sorta scathing. He says if anyone has made him into a joke, it's other Black people.

Antoine says he doesn't really do Black-sponsored engagements 'cause it doesn't compare to the treatment he might get from whites. As he puts it ... if white people are only out to make him a punchline for their amusement, they're going to expensive lengths to do so.

Bottom line ... Antoine feels like the notion we gotta restrict white people's meme usage is ridiculous -- which is how a lot of Twitter users felt about it this weekend, frankly.

While some might agree with the writer, John Blake, the consensus seems to go in the opposite direction -- and Antoine's in that camp. BTW, he also touches on his sister's real-life scary incident being turned into humor ... and he explains why he's good with that too.

Last year Antoine got into the adult beverage business partnering with an Alabama brewery to craft "Run N Tell That" lager and just recently launched his own hot sauce.

Sometimes L.A. freeways look like action movie scenes, but this car flying several feet into the air and flipping over after a tire popped off a truck ... is painfully real, and crazy!!!

Dashcam video captured by Anoop Khatra's Tesla shows the entire accident go down on L.A.'s Ronald Reagan Freeway -- as you can see, the Kia Soul was passing a pickup truck last week ... when the truck's left front tire just comes loose.

Vehicles losing tires ... not that uncommon, but what happens next is -- the loose tire slams into the front of the passing Kia and absolutely launches it into the air!!!

The Kia does a flip mid-air, before landing.

And, just when the chaos seems to be ending ... the same rogue tire slams into the back of the Kia. Got it coming and going!

Meanwhile, the pickup truck driver managed to anxiously exit off the freeway ... on just 3 wheels. Astoundingly, the CHP says there were no major injuries.

Jeremy Renner's recovery from his snowplow accident continues to go well -- so much so, in fact, that the guy is already walking again ... albeit, with a little help from technology.

The actor posted a video Sunday that shows him strutting his stuff in an anti-gravity treadmill. The reason we know that -- besides just looking at it -- is 'cause JR himself alludes to the fact that he's only using a certain percentage of his body weight as he works his legs.

Watch ... it sounds like he's getting quite a bit of assistance, but it's encouraging to see he's up and moving like this -- especially since the incident went down just a couple months ago.

Jeremy also has had a great caption that further elaborates on how he's doing. He writes, "I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will."

In other words, he wants to rehab harder than his body might allow at times -- but the fact he's going hard is, frankly, par for the course for him. The dude's a workhorse, and you can clearly see he wants to get back to normal ASAP ... and hopefully will be soon.

Again, it's remarkable how far along he's come since January ... when he was crushed by a massive machine that nearly killed him. Remember, he broke over 30 bones and needed major surgery. Since then, however, he's been on the grind ... documenting his journey as well.

A Mississippi meteorologist had a raw reaction to the deadly tornados that just tore through the state -- saying a prayer live on the air ... which has now gone viral.

WTVA 9 News' Matt Laubhan was bringing in weather updates Friday evening as word of massive storms touching down was starting to spread. He was explaining what the city of Amory -- in the northeast part of MS -- could expect to see when he took a pause.

Check it out ... it's pretty shocking to see how he reacts to an incoming tornado that clearly has him concerned. He even pauses and invokes Jesus' name -- asking him to help them.

Even before he said his prayer, Laubhan was getting into the weeds and being fully transparent with viewers -- telling them that while he might predict what's gonna happen, they have to be prepared for the worst. He also pulled up helpful interactive tools onscreen.

His whole broadcast was coming from the heart, and you can see how much he cared about the folks on the ground. It's a humanizing moment ... the Internet certainly appreciated it.

As for the aftermath ... upwards of 26 people are reported dead after tornados tore through much of Mississippi, causing massive destruction. The gusts these tornados came with were at their highest ... going as fast as 166 MPH to 200 MPH. So, a full-blown natural disaster.

A CNN writer has spurred a healthy debate about Internet culture, and has posed the question of whether it's okay for white people to use Black memes ... he says it isn't.

John Blake published a piece Sunday that's gotten a big reaction online. It's titled, "What’s ‘digital blackface?’ And why is it wrong when White people use it?" In the analysis article, he makes his argument -- namely, using these memes/GIFs is modern-day minstrel show fare.

For starters, he describes digital blackface this way ... "[It] involves White people play-acting at being Black," citing a Teen Vogue writer who defined it. He goes on to quote that author as saying, "[T]he Internet thrives on White people laughing at exaggerated displays of Blackness, reflecting a tendency among some to see 'Black people as walking hyperbole.'"

Blake continues to reference Teen Vogue in zeroing in further ... "[Digital blackface] includes displays of emotion stereotyped as excessive: so happy, so sassy, so ghetto, so loud… our dial is on 10 all the time — rarely are black characters afforded subtle traits or feelings."

Now for the haymaker from Blake, who says digital blackface is wrong and that it should be halted. The reason ... he says it's embedded in racist traditions of making fun of Black people -- and while Twitter users in 2023 might not necessarily see it that way from the outside looking in, that's certainly how it's being perceived by many ... intentionally or not.

There are countless Black memes that the Internet regularly recycles -- including some that feature famous people from TV shows and/or movies -- but there's one that Blake focuses on in particular as his Exhibit A ... namely, the 2012 Sweet Brown interview from Oklahoma.

Brown had just experienced a legitimate tragedy at the time -- she was dealing with an apartment fire -- and while her remarks were animated/memorable ... they were coming from a serious place of fear. And yet, the internet made a whole autotune song out of it -- seemingly discounting her real-life feelings and simply making a joke out of the whole thing.

Ditto for Antoine Dodson's TV news interview from years ago, where his family also had just gone through a truly terrifying encounter -- but his comments also went viral.

Dick Van Dyke showed off his battle wounds Friday after his recent car accident, claiming the airbags didn’t deploy during the crash.

The beloved “Mary Poppins” icon, 97, was spotted out and about with his wife, 51-year-old Arlene Silver, and a younger pal.

Van Dyke pointed out two stitches in his chin after his car accident last week ... “I’m fine — just sore all over” ... assuring people he was doing “pretty good.”

“The airbags did not deploy, so I just had a face plant right in the steering wheel and it just made me a little dumber,” he quipped, with his infamous grin.

He brushed off the concerns about his well-being, saying he’s doing relatively ok ... “I’m 97 — all my friends are dead.”

The famed actor crashed his silver Lexus earlier this Month into a gate in Malibu while driving in wet conditions, apparently losing control of the wheel.

Photos from the accident show Van Dyke with blood on his mouth and nose, and paramedics treated him at the scene for his injuries and a possible concussion.

Officers don’t believe alcohol or drugs were involved in the slippery crash, but they reportedly requested that the actor retake his driving exam with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Just a few months prior, the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star was seen lamenting the Golden State’s drought, wishing for a wet spell, while visiting one of his favorite nonprofit organizations in October 2022.

“Is it ever going to rain?” he asked at the time when he was spotted driving the same vehicle involved in this month’s unfortunate crash.

A decade ago, Van Dyke was involved in a more serious car accident — that time, his vehicle burst into flames. Dick was driving on a California highway when he noticed smoke coming from the hood of his Jaguar.

Promptly pulling over to the side of the road, a hero bystander rushed to the star’s rescue and pulled him from the car just before it burst into flames.

The inferno torched the luxe car, but Van Dyke luckily escaped without a scratch.

Luka Doncic says he hasn't been happy on the court like he used to be -- and while he's publicly citing personal problems ... Twitter seems to be blaming Kyrie Irving.

The Dallas Mavericks PG talked to the press Friday night after the team's loss to the Charlotte Hornets -- which actually spurred boos from the home crowd ... amounting to a somewhat ugly scene in American Airlines Center. HC Jason Kidd said it was deserved.

There's a lot of criticism about the Mavs' lack of effort in this game ... especially from their two big stars -- Luka and Kyrie -- who haven't been gelling that well since KI came on.

When asked if this is as frustrated as he's been, Luka answered candidly ... saying yes, and then going on to explain that he feels like his attitude toward the game has changed of late -- namely, he's simply not as excited to play and has effectively lost his love of basketball.

Reporters asked him to elaborate -- as that sounds like a clear reference to Kyrie, as he appears to be the one big change in the Mavs organization lately -- and Luka pivoted.

He said he was dealing with stuff off the court, and suggested that's what's causing the issues in his game. The Internet, however, wasn't buying that ... and jumped to the conclusion Luka was, in fact, expressing thinly-veiled frustration about his new teammate.

Kyrie also spoke to the media and was defiant when asked about the fans booing ... saying they're more than welcome to come on down and play if they think they're up for it.

Eventually, he talked about the transition to the Mavs and how bumpy it's been -- the team is currently out of playoff contention -- and he also said it's been rough getting adjusted.

KI was quoted as saying ... "[W]e're still feeling each other out in a way of getting used to each other's efforts and attitudes and temperament. And that's a real thing. That's a human thing. That's a human element. Whether people believe it in basketball or not, there's a very fine line between winning basketball games and everyone being on the same page and losing basketball games and things splintering and pointing fingers."