KYLIE JENNER’S REIGN as Instagram’s most followed woman has come to an end for now. Celebrity news fan account PopFaction noted this morning that Selena Gomez, formerly the platform’s most followed woman, exceeded Jenner’s follower count. While at 10 a.m. EST on Feb. 22, Jenner actually still had a slight edge, Gomez surpassed her as the day went on.
At 6:25 P.M. EST on the 22nd, Gomez officially led with 380,644,778 followers. Jenner, meanwhile, was close behind with 380,425,729 followers.
Selena Gomez’s follower count at 6:25 P.M. EST
Kylie Jenner’s follower count at 6:25 P.M. EST
While Gomez has been more active on Instagram lately, she spoke to Vanity Fair earlier this month about how she actually only has TikTok on her phone. She removed Instagram years ago and has her assistant post content for her to her page.
Of why she decided to personally step back from most social media platforms, Gomez said, “I never got the chance to go to an actual high school. The world was my high school for the longest time, and I started getting inundated with information that I didn’t want. I went through a hard time in a breakup and I didn’t want to see any of the [feedback]—not necessarily about the relationship, but the opinions of me versus [someone] else. There’d be thousands of really nice comments, but my mind goes straight to the mean one.”
“People can call me ugly or stupid and I’m like, Whatever. But these people get detailed,” she continued. “They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety…I couldn’t do it anymore. It was a waste of my time.”
“The only thing I have on my phone is TikTok because I find it to be a little less hostile,” she said. “There are wonderful things about social media—connecting with fans, seeing how happy and excited they are and their stories. But usually that’s filtered through [for me now]. I created a system. Everything I do I send to my assistant who posts them. As far as comments, my team will put together a few things that are encouraging.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
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