(although he rarely accepts such requests nowadays).
This is the same as saying that the admin does not consider such applications at all.
It turns out that "The Pharmacist" has a priveleges for it? The admin chose him specifically and chose his application specifically.
And what about the rest of the people? Are they shit for the admin or something?
Nope, what you read is the answer to this question. It's not just him who's request to change display name in the forum got accepted. Royse request is also accepted and you can see that the nickname is now different. Even before, requests like change name isn't accepted easily since admin is busy and even the mods are busy with the forum and also don't forget about their daily lives outside the forum.