For celebrities, social media can be an amazing place to connect with fans and grow their potential audience and customer base. Social media can be a place where some stars offer a carefully curated, behind-the-scenes glimpse into their personal lives, including letting us see their homes and kids, and even virtually tag along on their most epic and fabulous vacations. Social media is a big indicator of popularity, so celebs such as the Kardashian-Jenners and others work hard to grow their follower numbers.
But other celebrities — including some that are very Kardashian adjacent — have made social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter their place for unhinged rantings, questionable life choices, and even harassing or threatening behavior. And while these platforms will honestly put up with a lot from the most popular users, sometimes even a celebrity can go too far and find themselves on a temporary or permanent ban from social media apps.
For some of these banned celebrities (including a certain former reality star-turned-president), their social media bans made front-page news, but other names on this list may be surprising to you.
Kanye West
Although there are still images of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian from happier days on Kim's Instagram account, her rapper ex, who is now known as Ye, has faced temporary bans from the platform following repeated posts that threatened both Kim and her current boyfriend, Pete Davidson. Let's hope he uses these bans to do a little self-reflecting.
Rob Kardashian
Rob Kardashian (whose Instagram account pointedly notes that it is run by Jenner Communications) was banned from Instagram in 2017 after posting revenge porn pictures of his ex-fiancée Blac Chyna when the couple was in the middle of a messy breakup and co-parenting battle. Not a good look, Rob!
Donald Trump
Following the events of January 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the US Capitol to show support for then-President Donald Trump, Twitter finally banned Trump permanently, citing the fact that his tweets increased "the risk of further incitement of violence." Anyone else enjoying the silence?
Alex Jones
Right-wing talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was also banned from Twitter due to his account promoting and inciting violence. But the Infowars host isn't just banned from Twitter — he also has been blocked from YouTube, had his podcast removed from Apple services, and had several pages removed from his Facebook account.
Rihanna
Music icon and mom-to-be Rihanna has been briefly banned from Instagram a few times, but not for inciting violence. She's actually been accused of inciting horniness, as her bans were for violating the platform's rules on nudity, including posting a topless photo of herself.
Courtney Love
Courtney Love was banned from Twitter in 2011 after going on a rant about a fashion designer named Dawn Simorangkir, with whom she was having a major beef. The former Hole singer made some defamatory statements against Dawn, and her account was shut down for good.
Azealia Banks
Azealia Banks is a rapper who has released several albums, but many people know her better for being a hothead on social media. She's gotten in so many public feuds (including with Elon Musk, Grimes, Lizzo, and Zayn Malik) and said a ton of homophobic things, resulting in a lifetime ban from Twitter.
Rose McGowan
Actress and activist Rose McGowan is no stranger to controversy, though she's generally been able to stay active on most social media platforms. She was briefly banned from Twitter in 2017 after a series of tweets where she called out Ben Affleck for his business relationship with disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, including one tweet that featured a private phone number, which is against Twitter rules. Her ban only lasted 12 hours after the offending post was removed.
Chelsea Handler
Just like Rihanna, it was Chelsea Handler's nipples that got her into trouble with Instagram. In 2014, she posted a picture of herself riding horseback with no shirt on (that sounds painful, to be honest) and got the temporary Instagram ban for violating community standards.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is a big fan of Donald Trump, but not such a big fan of the truth. She, like her idol Trump, has also been permanently banned from Twitter. In her case, the January 2022 ban of her personal account came after repeated tweets in which she shared false and dangerous information about COVID-19 vaccines.
Perez Hilton
Infamous celebrity gossip columnist Perez Hilton is now a celebrity in his own right, with more than a million followers on social media. In 2020, he was given a lifetime ban on TikTok, something that he blames on some of the app's biggest stars, among them the D'Amelio family, who he had sometimes poked fun at.
Addison Rae
Addison Rae is one of the most popular stars on TikTok, which made it quite a shock when she appeared to have been banned from the site in October 2021. But the ban seems like it might have been more like a glitch, as her account was down for less than two hours.
PewDiePie
PewDiePie (real name Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg) is one of the most popular YouTube stars in the world, with some of his videos having racked up more than 300 million views. While he is huge on YouTube, he has faced bans on Twitter, including once for making a joke about the terrorist organization ISIS. Yikes!
Milo Yiannopoulos
Right-wing writer and professional social media troll Milo Yiannopoulos loved to use social media to say offensive things in order to bring attention to himself. In 2016, he was banned from Twitter for, among other things, inciting harassment of Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones.
Scout Willis
Scout Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, was temporarily banned from Instagram for an absurd reason. She was wearing a sweatshirt that she designed which had an illustration of two topless women. Scout made the point later that while women can legally be topless on the streets in New York City, Instagram won't even allow an illustrated female nipple, something she deemed sexist.
