Jeremy Clarkson reckons Elon Musk should be paying him to use Twitter

Jeremy Clarkson thinks that tech mogul Elon Musk should be paying him to stay on Twitter.

Check out Musk's first day in charge of the social media giant here:

With celebs abandoning the platform in their masses, people having to pay for verification, and now Clarkson wanting to be added to the payroll: Musk bringing in a sink on his first day might've been an early sign that things were going down the drain.

For those that, well, aren't currently on Twitter, Musk bought the platform for $44 billion (£38 billion) after he first announced his intention to add it to his collection of companies back in April.

The deal went ahead and the Tesla CEO announced his plans to radically reform the platform - promising to protect free speech - whatever that means - for a platform where people were already spewing their every thought.

For Clarkson, that means that the platform's become a 'cesspit' and he wants compensation for staying.

As he explained in his Sunday Times column when speaking about 'the internet’s biggest cesspit: Twitter.'

"The last time I looked, I had seven million followers, but I rarely post anything because the responses I get are always unhinged.

"And now there is talk that the company’s new owner, Elon Musk, is going to make me pay for the blue tick that says I am who I claim to be."

Clarkson went on to question Musk's recent decision: "Why? I’m the one who helps bring advertisers to the platform.

"I’m the one who has to jump into a tank full of piranhas every time I say anything. You should be paying me."

To be fair, Clarkson isn't the only celeb hitting back at the chief twit, with New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) suggesting that Elon Musk had already broken his vow to protect freedom of speech.

It's safe to say that things escalated pretty quickly and, getting straight to the point, the congresswoman said: "Yo @elonmusk while I have your attention, why should people pay $8 just for their app to get bricked when they say something you don’t like?

"This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday. What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me."

Musk wasting no time at all in replying, appearing to hint that Ocasio-Cortez was making money from political merch she'd made.

And we don't think this is the only issue Musk will face in response to his takeover.