Instagram Purge Cuts Millions from Celebrity Followers

Instagram has removed millions of fake, bot, and inactive accounts in a large-scale cleanup, resulting in sharp declines in follower counts for numerous celebrities worldwide over the past few days. The effort, which users on social media have called the Great Purge of 2026, hit high-profile figures hardest, with Kylie Jenner losing more than 14 million followers and Cristiano Ronaldo dropping approximately 7 million.

The purge affected a broad range of stars. Selena Gomez saw about 6 million followers disappear, while Indian cricketer Virat Kohli lost over 2 million and actress Priyanka Chopra more than 1 million. Other celebrities, including Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber, reported substantial reductions. K-pop groups BTS and BLACKPINK also experienced noticeable drops, as did Jennifer Lopez, who shed over 3 million followers.

Reports indicate the removals occurred rapidly, with millions of accounts deleted in periods as short as six hours. Smaller influencers and content creators lost between 2 and 5 percent of their followers, though celebrities with massive audiences faced the largest numerical hits due to the volume of suspicious accounts linked to...