A winding history of all the times Selena Gomez has threatened to ‘quit’ Instagram

Selena Gomez’s chaotic social media presence is rapidly becoming one of my favourite elements of modern celebrity lore. Because, Selena might be the most followed woman on Instagram but this hasn’t stopped her threatening to delete the app at any God-given chance she gets. She’s literally me yelling ‘I quit’ at my 9-5 any time someone sends me an email.

So, in honour of the most hectic on and off relationship with being chronically online the internet has ever seen, here is a winding history of all the times Selena Gomez has threatened to “quit” Instagram— from the petty reasons to the profound:

To focus on herself and writing her RARE album in September 2018

After a kidney transplant in 2017, hospitalisation for low white blood cell count and anxiety and depression treatment in early 2018, Selena decided to take a break from socials to docus on herself.

“As much as I am grateful for the voice that social media gives each of us, I am equally grateful to be able to step back and live my life present to the moment I have been given,” she explained at the time. This was Selena’s longest Instagram break and she returned to social media four months later in January 2019.

Her planned hiatus as soon as her third album dropped in January 2020

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After a year back on socials, Selena was ready for another break as soon as her RARE album dropped in January 2020. “I got back on because I was releasing music, but I just told my best friend Courtney [Lopez] yesterday, I’m going to have to take it off my phone again soon,” she told The Wall Street Journal at the time. “I’d rather stay away from anything that’s going to make me feel like shit.”

During the Hayley Bieber feud hyper analysis on TikTok in March 2023

In 2023, Selena’s social breaks began to become more entwined with the A-list rumour mill. After TikTok became obsessed with the theory that Hailey Bieber was copying her style because Justin still loved her and the pair were in a feud, she announced: “I love who I am, and yeah, I’m going to be taking a second from social media ’cause this is a little silly…And I’m 30, I’m too old for this. But I love you guys so much and I will see you guys sooner than later.”

After her comments about the Gaza conflict went down horribly in November 2023

In November 2023, Selena threatened to quit Instagram after receiving backlash over her “tone-deaf” story posts about what’s happening in Gaza, which critics  said were “self-absorbed”.

“I’m taking a break and deleting my Instagram. I’m done. I don’t support any of what’s going on” Selena wrote on her Instagram story. Fans were particularly angry with the last few sentences in her story in which she wrote, “I wish I could change the world. But a post won’t.” Followers felt like Selena was “downplaying her massive following and being hypocritical,” as well as making the situation in Gaza “all about herself.”

The 18 hour post Golden Globes Timothée and Kylie drama hiatus in January 2024

And hands down the most ridiculous jump off socials Selena has made so far was this week when she left the platform for 18 hours after the infamous Golden Globes drama where she allegedly rushed to tell Taylor Swift that Kylie Jenner hadn’t allowed her to get a picture with Timothée Chalamet.

“I’m off social for a while,” she wrote on her Instagram story, alongside a photo of her new boyfriend Benny Blanco with some young children. “I’m focusing on what really matters.” But in under a day she was back, sharing a photo with Gordon Ramsey to her story to promote her cooking show. We love a woman who doesn’t explain her actions.

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Featured image credit via Instagram (@selenagomez)