January 9 marked one year since Bob Saget died at the age of 65.
On the anniversary of his death, Saget's wife Kelly Rizzo made a plea to Twitter owner Elon Musk to restore the comedian's blue checkmark "out of respect for his legacy."
Rizzo tweeted:
"Hi @elonmusk - today on the 1 year anniversary of Bob's (@bobsaget) passing, 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."
Rizzo finished the tweet with a prayer hands emoji and asking "friends" for their assistance.
\u201cHi @elonmusk -today on the 1 year anniversary of Bob\u2019s (@bobsaget ) passing, I saw he\u2019s no longer verified? My husband truly loved Twitter. Out of respect for his legacy, can something be done? Thank you kindly\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc (friends, please help)\u201d— Kelly Rizzo (@Kelly Rizzo) 1673287727
Rizzo then followed with:
"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!?"
\u201cAnd the only reason I\u2019m addressing this at all is because I know Bob would be very bummed about this. He\u2019d say \u201chey, if someone goes to see my page and all the jokes I\u2019ve tweeted over the years, how will they know it\u2019s for sure me!?\u201d\u201d— Kelly Rizzo (@Kelly Rizzo) 1673287727
In recent months, Twitter users have been able to acquire the blue checkmark by paying a monthly fee. Unfortunately, many parody accounts have been created and "verified" with blue checks causing much confusion for users.
According to the Wayback Machine, Saget still had a blue checkmark on July 31 of last year.
An inactive Twitter account can lose its verification status if it goes unused for six months.
Saget's pal Seth Green responded with the hashtag #BobSagetImmortal.
#BobSagetImmortal
— Seth Green (@SethGreen) January 10, 2023
Many others chimed in to support Rizzo and her request.
I hope he can make this happen. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Brian Trump (@realBrianTrump) January 9, 2023
Bob deserves his legacy, Strength and courage, Kelly
— Li (@lbruno) January 9, 2023
Some - including Musk's friend Jason Calacanis - believe that Twitter should have a feature to memorialize those who've passed.
Facebook and Instagram both offer ways to memorialize accounts of deceased users.
A true legend, a huge loss. 💔
Would be wonderful if there was a memorial feature on Twitter for our loved ones that have passed…
… like a reminder of their birthday to all their followers so we can celebrate them.
— @jason (@Jason) January 9, 2023
I'm sorry and I'm thinking of you today. May his memory be a blessing.
Perhaps accounts of notable people who have passed on can be memorialized in some way on Twitter as a digital memory
— Raphael Gluck (@einfal) January 9, 2023
.@elonmusk What about an In Memorium Legacy colored badge?
— Eric Rontero (@EricRontero) January 9, 2023
Several users even offered to pay the subscription fee if that's what is necessary to keep the account verified.
@elonmusk add his monthly payment to my account please. He should be more verified than me.
— Ryan Lorbecki (@rlorbecki) January 9, 2023
I got years 2 and 3
— esclusa.web3 (@PRCamel) January 10, 2023
Of course, many also offered words of support on what was likely a difficult day for Rizzo.
Thinking of Bob today, Kelly, sending good thoughts in his memory from the whole #HIMYM Team!
— Craig Thomas (@HimymCraig) January 10, 2023
Still can’t believe he’s gone, before your story could even really begin. Deepest sympathies to all his family & gratitude for his legacy of laughter.
— MelissaJPeltier (@MelissaJPeltier) January 10, 2023
Hope you are doing well, Kelly. I cannot believe a year has passed. Much love to you….
— Gayle Escobar (@Krazy4MJJ) January 9, 2023
Musk has yet to reply to Rizzo, and Saget's account remains unverified for now.
Hopefully because of this rally, Twitter will soon offer a way to memorialize accounts.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC