Ricky Gervais, Greg James, and Aymeric Laporte are among the famous names to react after Twitter blue ticks are removed.
In case you missed it, Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed last week that all celebrities, public figures, and other ‘legacy verified’ accounts were to be stripped of their blue tick verification symbols on Thursday 20 April, unless they pay for the newly-launched “premium subscription service” Twitter Blue.
The social media platform first introduced the now-famous ‘blue tick’ verification symbol all the way back in 2009 so that individuals, businesses, organisations, and accounts of notability could prove their identity – but in recent months, after the highly-publicised takeover by multi-billionaire founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, Twitter users will have likely noticed the colour of a lot of these verification symbols for certain official accounts changing from blue to grey/silver and gold.
At the start of 2023, Twitter began rolling out a grey tick verification mark for government-related accounts, and a golden tick mark for companies.
The classic ‘blue tick’, according to a statement on the Twitter website, was then left to mean that the account was either ‘legacy verified’, or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue and meets the platform’s eligibility requirements.
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Although Musk’s past antics and previous comments may have lead many to questioning whether or not he was serious about the date blue ticks would be removed, it was, in fact, genuine as hundreds of thousands of accounts began losing their verifications yesterday.
And lots of celebrities had something to say about it.
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I lost my blue tick but your rocket blew up so who’s the real loser
Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James, Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte, and Game of Thrones actor John Bradley were among some of the famous names to take to Twitter to tweet their hilarious reactions to the loss of their blue ticks.
“I lost my blue tick but your rocket blew up so who’s the real loser,” Greg James said comically, pointing to the failed SpaceX rocket launch attempt only a few hours earlier.
Ricky Gervais shared one of his well-known bathtub pictures with the caption: “My blue tick has gone. I’m not sure if I’m really me or not.”
Aymeric Laporte seemed a bit confused with his reaction: “Damn Elon what did u do lol”, while John Bradley took a moment to look ahead to Manchester United‘s then-upcoming UEFA Europa League match with his tweet: “Blue tick may have gone but it could be worse. At least United are still in the Europa League.
“This tweet could have a shelf life of 2 sweet hours.”
And he was right as that obviously didn’t age well considering the Reds were defeated, quite spectacularly, by Sevilla 0-3 last night.
Halle Berry, Henry Winkler, Ciara, and Finneas are among the other famous names to tweet their reactions.
Shocking new survey reveals 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book in the last year
Emily Sergeant
A shocking new survey has revealed that 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book within the last year alone.
Reading is a lifeline for some, it’s a chance to delve into a story, open your mind, expand your horizons, and lose yourself in another world, but at present, it’s fair to say that reading is far from a universal habit among British adults – and in fact, 40% claim to have not picked up or listened to a single book in the last 12 months.
Ahead of World Book Day last week, YouGov decided to look into the reading habits of the British public and asked a total of 2121 adults a series of literary-related questions.
According to the survey, a quarter of Brits (23%) who responded say they have read or listened to between one and five books in the last year, with a further 10% admitting to reading or listening to between six and 10, and an extra 10% making their way through between 11 and 20 books.
Shocking new survey reveals that 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book in the last year / Credit: Freepik | Susan Q Yin (via Unsplash)
There are a small number of so-called ‘mega-readers’, however, with 4% of respondents claiming they have read more than 50 books, which is roughly one or more books a week, on average.
As often tends to be the case with many survey results, the results do differ between gender, age, and social class.
Two-thirds of women (66%) say they have read or listened to a book in the last year, but just over half of men (53%) say they have.
Older Brits are also more likely to be readers too, with 65% of over 65s and 63% of 50-64 year olds having read at least one book or listened to one audiobook in the last year, compared to just 57% of 25-49 year olds, and 53% of 18-24 year olds.
4% claimed they’ve read more than 50 books in the last year / Credit: Debbie Tea (via Unsplash)
According to YouGov’s findings, there is also something of a class divide in reading too.
66% of survey respondents who live in middle class households have read or listened to a book in the last 12 months, compared to just 52% those living in working class households.
And how about frequency? According to the survey, 50% of Brits say they read or listen to books at least once a week, with 37% reading ‘most days’, and 20% reading every day, and women more likely than men to be daily readers at 27%.
Just 15% of Brits say they ‘never’ read or listen to books at all.
While a growing number of Brits may be using audiobooks, most 53% don’t consider ‘listening’ to be the equivalent of having read the same book, and 82% still prefer physical copies of books.
Anaïs, Molly and Gene Gallagher share the screen in a new phone advert
Danny Jones
The Gallagher kids have enjoyed a little reunion of their own as Noel’s daughter Anaïs, as well as Liam’s oldest and youngest children, Molly and Gene, have been doing a little bit of light acting in a new advert.
It’s been just over half a year now since Oasis broke the internet and British brains everywhere after confirming their comeback and ‘Live ’25’ world tour and we’re now just a few months out from seeing it in person a decade and a half since they last played together.
The family feud is one of the most famous in all of showbiz but one thing we’ve always wondered is how much of an impact it had on the Gallagher kids, especially now they’re adults.
Well, it turns out that since their dads have put their brotherly differences aside, their offspring look to have done the same.
The advert itself is for Samsung and their new Galaxy S25 Ultra model and, more specifically, its new ‘Auto Trim’ video editing feature.
Set at what looks to be a dinner party, the two previously estranged Gallagher daughters can be seen sending messages back and forth; meanwhile, Liam‘s youngest son Gene is merely in the background other than calling the whole thing “cringe”.
He’s already far too rock and roll for all this clearly.
After all, he and the rest of his Villanelle bandmates are starting to gain some traction and might have some of those reunion shows to get ready for. 25-year-old Anaïs still maintains he didn’t even hear anything about it from dad Noel until the announcement itself.
Either way, the main thing is that the gang are all back together. Wouldn’t ‘r Peggy be proud?
Yes, LG Jr. might be opening up for his dad as one of the support slots.
It’s worth noting that the advert isn’t the first time the Gallagher kids have been pictured with each other since the reconciliation, though.
Molly, Anaïs, Gene and Liam’s eldest Lennon – who wasn’t part of this cosy little commercial for whatever reason – were all spotted at London Fashion Week together back in September 2024.
Despite plenty of choice words having been shared across the family tree over the years, it looks as though all is said and done and now we just have to pray everyone stays friends until July. If the ‘plum story’ has taught us anything, it’s that is a very delicate ecosystem.
After a more recent and seemingly legit picture of the two seemingly getting on together surfaced online (they must have had at least one little spat by now, surely?), it’s feeling more and more real as the five nights at Heaton Park and all the other dates edge closer.
Not that half of us in the office even managed to get tickets, mind you…
Emily Sergeant -
21st April 2023 
