On April 23, 2023, YouTube Gaming streamer Rachell "Valkyrae" revealed that she had not paid for the controversial Twitter Blue, which is a verified subscription to the platform. The co-owner of 100 Thieves stated that she had received the verification badge despite not paying for it, adding that the social media platform was "lying."

In her most recent tweet, she said:

"I didn't pay for verification or verify my number, lol... Twitter is lying."

xQc also claims to have been verified on Twitter without paying for it alongside Valkyrae

French-Canadian Twitch personality Felix "xQc" is also verified on Twitter now and has a blue check mark beside his name. The former Overwatch pro was notified of the same by fans when he was reacting to TikToks on a livestream earlier today.

After cross-checking, xQc was flabbergasted and claimed that he had not paid for it:

"Boom! How?! How?! Chat, how did I get it? I didn't pay for it!"

According to the 27-year-old content creator, he had been unable to pay for the subscription because his payment methods were Canadian. His iPhone seemingly failed to process the transaction.

"Guys, I cannot pay for it. You want to know why? Because the only payment that I have are all Canadian. And iPhone does not process any Canadian stuff on U.S. stuff! I can't even buy it! Even if I want to buy it, I can't do it! (The streamer shows a screenshot of his verified profile) Boom!"

Online community reacts to streamers getting verified on the social media platform without paying for it

Valkyrae's revelation went viral and garnered more than 29.7k likes and 455 comments in less than 12 hours. Political commentator Hasan "HasanAbi" poked fun and shared a meme:

Twitch streamer Kaylenn speculated that the platform verifying well-known personalities was a "marketing ploy":

@kyogaitv claimed that their profile has had the checkmark for two months despite not being subscribed to Twitter Blue:

One fan joked that Valkyrae's verification was a gift from Elon Musk:

Here are a few more pertinent reactions:

Here's what xQc's community had to say:

On April 21, 2023, novelist Stephen King also had a similar allegation to make against the platform.