Stars lost millions of fake followers after Instagram went on a house cleaning rampage yesterday in what is being called the great Instagram purge of 2014.
Celebrities such as singer Rihanna, socialite Kim Kardashian and rapper-turned-pastor Ma$e lost millions of followers as Instagram deleted bogus and spammy accounts (ie., accounts that were purchased to pad user follow counts).
The hardest hit celeb was Senegal singer/songwriter Akon Thiam who reportedly lost 3 million followers on Thursday.
Reality TV personality Draya Michele (pictured above) lost 300,000 followers. No one was safe on IG yesterday. Even media mogul Oprah lost 100,000 followers, although it’s doubtful she purchased the accounts herself.
Instagram warned users of the destruction that was to come. But many celebs didn’t get the message until it was too late.
Reality TV personality and flop singer Porsha Williams took her Instagram page private in hopes of concealing her follower loss.
From the NY Post’s Page Six:
On Thursday, we noticed about 1.3 million of Kim Kardashian’s vanished. Rihanna’s decreased by about 1.2 million. Katy Perry’s went down 300,000. Even Oprah lost 100,000.
“It’s bad for a celeb for many reasons,” Heller said. “It’s embarrassing,” plus “they also could lose lots of money.”
Brands pay up to $100,000 for posts and negotiate fees based on followers. Bravo’s Andy Cohen tweeted, “I lost 20k followers in the #InstagramPurge .?.?. Twitter
