Virat Kohli, Ronaldo, BLACKPINK see millions of Instagram followers vanish: Here’s what happened

Several global celebrities saw their Instagram follower count drop recently, and it happened almost at the same time. From Kylie Jenner to Cristiano Ronaldo and Virat Kohli, a number of big accounts were affected. Artists like Taylor Swift and groups like BLACKPINK also saw their numbers go down. Also Read: Meta’s AI may use bone structure, height to detect underage accounts

The reason behind this is not a controversy or backlash. Instead, it is linked to a large-scale cleanup carried out by Instagram, as reported by platforms like Celebrity Radar, BPT Scans and Pop-Rant. Also Read: Make Animated Stickers From Reels Using This Instagram Trick

Why followers dropped suddenly

The drop in follower count is being linked to a cleanup of fake and inactive accounts on Instagram. According to Meta, this is part of a routine cleanup where the platform removes spam, inactive, and non-organic accounts. In simple terms, most of the followers that disappeared were not active users in the first place.

The company also said that genuine followers remain unaffected, and if any account is mistakenly removed and later restored, it will be added back after verification.

Reports suggest that this cleanup happened within a short window, which is why millions of followers disappeared almost instantly and the term “Great Purge of 2026” started trending online.

Who lost how many followers

Among all celebrities, Kylie Jenner was the worst hit. She reportedly lost close to 14 to 15 million followers within hours.

Cristiano Ronaldo saw a drop of around 8 million followers, while Lionel Messi lost roughly 4 million. Virat Kohli’s follower count dropped by about 2 million, taking his total from 276 million to around 274 million.

In the music space, Taylor Swift lost nearly 4 million followers. Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez both saw a drop of around 6 million each, while Justin Bieber lost close to 5 million.

BLACKPINK’s official Instagram account reportedly lost over 10 million followers. Individual members were also affected — Lisa lost around 1.1 million, while Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo saw drops in the range of 600,000 to 700,000 followers.

Why celebrities saw bigger drops

Celebrity accounts usually have a much larger follower base, which also means they tend to have a higher number of inactive or bot accounts attached to them over time.

Because of this, even a small percentage cleanup results in a drop of millions. Reports also suggest that smaller creators were affected, but the drop was usually around 2 to 5 percent, so it wasn’t as noticeable. Some users have said that a few real accounts may have been removed by mistake, though there is no official confirmation on that.

Why follower count still matters

For celebrities, follower count is closely tied to brand deals and visibility. It also plays a role in how much celebrities can charge for promotions and brand deals. According to industry estimates, top names can earn anywhere between $2 million to $3 million for a single sponsored post. It also works as a ready audience for product launches, music releases, or tours.

That’s why even a temporary drop in numbers gets noticed, even if it’s just because of inactive accounts being removed.

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What this update actually shows

This update is not really about celebrities losing popularity. It’s more about platforms cleaning up inflated follower counts. In a way, it gives a clearer picture of actual engagement instead of numbers that have built up over time with inactive or bot accounts.