17 Stars Who've Quit Social Media … and How Long They've Stayed Away

What Went Down: The Stranger Things actress quit Twitter in June 2018 — which also happens to be Pride Month — after Twitter users began attacking the star with a homophobic meme seemingly attributed to her. Millie has previously shown her support for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

How Long it Lasted: We’ll be checking back in to see! 

What Went Down: After fellow rapper Azealia Banks criticized Cardi for acting like a “caricature of a black woman,” Cardi defended herself in an Instagram comment saying, “I’m from the hood. I speak how I speak. I am how I am. I did not choose to be famous — people choose me.” From there, the two rappers seemed to engage in a back-and-forth spat criticizing each other’s behavior, until Cardi posted a long message on Instagram, saying, “The difference between me and you, I’ve never pretended to be or represent someone I’m not. I’ve made it where I am for being myself and staying true to that. I’m not trying to represent nobody but myself.” The mom-to-be then promptly deleted her Instagram account completely, taking her clap back message with it.

How Long it Lasted: Cardi was thankfully back at it a week later on May 20, after wiping her ‘gram of all previous posts up until that point. 

The Dancing with the Stars pro announced in March 2018 that she is “dealing with some personal things right now” and will be stepping away from social media for an indefinite period of time. “I’m dealing with some personal things right now and need to take a break from social media,” wrote Burke.

How long it lasted: At the end of March, Burke explained her absence with an Instagram post moruning her father; she has since properly returned to social media to celebrate her engagement. 

What went down: In November 2017, Buzzfeed criticized the actor’s career in an article titled “10 Long Years of Trying to Make Armie Hammer Happen.” When the outlet shared the review on Twitter, Hammer replied with, “Bitter AF.” He deleted his account just one day later. 

Hammer explained why he stepped away from the platform at TheWrap‘s Screening Series. “I just have no impulse control,” he said. “So if somebody says something stupid, I couldn’t help but say something back, and then it just exploded. This is a toxic environment, and my life is way better off. It’s so funny — people are so addicted and into Twitter, it seems crazy that someone could walk away from it! They’re like, wait, he deleted it? It was actually really easy.”

How long it lasted: The Call Me By Your Name star has yet to return to the Twitterverse. 

What went down: In December of 2015, the singer announced he’d be taking a break from social media, as well as from his phone and emails. “I’ve had such an amazing ride over the last five years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes so I’m taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed,” he posted on Facebook. He said he’d return to social media next autumn.

The “Shape of You” singer announced he was taking a break from Twitter on July 3, telling The Sun that he “can’t read” Twitter anymore due to the negativity. Almost two weeks later, Sheeran decided to delete his Twitter. “Last I’ll say on this,” he began on Instagram. “I came off Twitter [because] I was always intending to come off Twitter.”

How long it lasted: After a year of swearing off social media, Sheeran rerturned to Instagram, but made a point to quit Twitter for good.

What went down: Rose took to Instagram to announce she’s taking time off from social media for the month of December. “Hey guys, I just want to let everyone know that I’m taking the rest of the year off of social media,” Rose stated in a makeup-free video (accessorizing with the Snapchat flower crown filter, no less). “So I’ll have Joe, my assistant, post some cool stuff for me, and I’ll see you in the new year.”

How long it lasted: Rose said the social media hiatus would last one month but in reality it lasted two weeks.

What went down: The 21-year-old model appeared to have suddenly deleted her Instagram account on Nov. 13. Instead of being greeted by fashionable photos, her millions of fans found a generic message on Jenner’s Instagram page: “Sorry, this page isn’t available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.” The model’s other social media pages, such as Facebook and Twitter, are still up and running, and she has yet to comment on her break from Instagram.

How long it lasted: Jenner’s Instagram detox lasted one week. As for what sparked the break, the model spoke to Ellen DeGeneres while stopping by the host’s show. “I just wanted a little bit of a break. I would wake up in the morning and look at it first thing, I would go to bed and it would be the last thing I looked at,” she revealed. “I felt a little too dependent on it so I wanted to take a minute.”

What went down: Days after Bieber threatened to make his Instagram private if his fans didn’t stop sending hate toward his new flame (at the time), 18-year-old Sofia Richie, he stayed true to his word and shut down his account. It probably didn’t help that his ex Selena Gomez commented this on a photo of him with Richie: “If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol – It should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you and supported you before any one did.”
How long it lasted: Bieber deactivated on Aug. 16, 2016, but has returned, sharing pics from his tour as well as throwback snapshots.

What went down: The Fifth Harmony member was the recipient of nasty fan ire after she seemed to snub fellow bandmate Camila Cabello. (When asked to say something nice about everyone in the group for a Facebook Live interview, Kordei seemed to stall at Cabello, saying: “She is … let’s see. Camila. Very quirky. Yeah. Very quirky. Cute.”) The online abuse – which included racist photos and insults – got so bad that Kordei announced she’d be leaving Twitter, writing in a note: “I have shown nothing but commitment for the success of Fifth Harmony even promoting on my days off but yet I always find myself as the target of unjust hate and slander.”

How long it lasted: Her Twitter hiatus, which she announced on Aug. 8, 2016, wasn’t permanent – she started tweeting again in September to stand up against cyberbullies.

What went down: The Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress quietly left Instagram in August 2016, in the wake of receiving a barrage of criticism after sharing an anti-gun violence post on her Instagram and Facebook pages. The message, which was posted two days prior, reflected on the call to action that was made to stop gun violence at the Teen Choice Awards, which Ridley attended. “As I sat in the audience yesterday tears were streaming down my face at the tribute to those that have been lost to gun violence,” she wrote. “I didn’t get a great picture of the incredible group that came onstage but they were so brave. It was a true moment of togetherness. We must #stoptheviolence.”

How long it lasted: Ridley has returned to Instagram! The actress has been posting behind-the-scenes photos.

What went down: Following a barrage of racist, hateful and downright threatening tweets, the Ghostbusters star took to Twitter to defend herself against this “personal hell,” saying that she’d be taking a break from the social media site: “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the s––– I got today…wrong.”

How long it lasted: Three days – and we’re so glad she’s back. “Welp … a bitch thought she could stay away. But who else is gonna live tweet Game of Thrones!!” she tweeted.

What went down: In June 2016, Lovato took to Twitter to say she was leaving Twitter and Instagram, just days after she called Mariah Carey “nasty” for her behavior toward Jennifer Lopez. While her accounts haven’t yet been disabled, Lovato insists she’ll only be using Snapchat now, primarily because she “doesn’t have to see what some of y’all say.”

How long it lasted: She returned to Twitter just one day later.

What went down: In February of 2015, the rapper said she’d be quitting Twitter after receiving unflattering comments about paparazzi photos taken of her in a bikini while on vacation in Hawaii. “Just got back from a great vacation, came online and saw apparently it’s shocking and unheard of to be a woman and have cellulite,” she tweeted. She announced that her management would be handling her account from then on “unless any message is signed -IA.”
How long it lasted: A few months. Azalea is definitely back to tweeting herself, unless her management tweeted “my poor dog jelli is having a knee surgery and it’s pretty intense. I feel so bad for her, my poor little fatty.” (We’re keeping Jelli in our prayers.)

What went down: In early 2014, the unthinkable happened: Rihanna quit Instagram entirely, leaving her handle – @badgalRiRi – disabled. Apparently, this was an accident on the part of Instagram, but then again, she didn’t immediately get it restored.
How long it lasted: She returned six months later, praise the Lord. (Nov. 1, 2014, will forever be known as the historic day of The Rihturn.)

What went down: In September of 2015, Dunham announced that she had hired someone to tweet on her behalf so as to avoid “verbal violence.” “I really appreciate that anybody follows me at all, and so I didn’t want to cut off my relationship to it completely, but it really, truly wasn’t a safe space for me,” she said. The Girls star continued to be very active on Instagram.
How long it lasted: It seems like tweets are still in her voice! Maybe the person she hired is tweeting exactly what Dunham tells him/her to, like this recent one: “I used to be attracted to damaged men. Now I am attracted to damaged dogs.”

What went down: In October of 2014, the model/prolific tweeter said she’d be leaving the social media site after receiving death threats following a controversial tweet regarding a shooting in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. “I can’t see anything through the sea of hate and anger that is now my Twitter. Seriously I can’t sift through it all.”
How long it lasted: A week. Seven days later, she tweeted: “I’m bored. I missed you guys. Question time!” Chrissy, don’t ever play with our hearts like that ever again. Your Twitter presence is one of the most important things in our lives!

What went down: This may not have been a total social media black-out, per se, but Swift said “people might need a break” from her in October 2015, and ever since, she’s been posting significantly less on Instagram and Twitter.

How long it lasted: Swift’s Instagram-post-frequency is still at an all-time low, especially considering she was sharing pics almost every single day during her 1989 tour.