LIST: Local and international celebrities who took a break from social media
Using social media is always a double-edged sword. As much as it is a fun and entertaining way to kill time and discover new things, it can also be as suffocating.
While social media is one of the easiest ways for celebrities to keep their fans updated on their life happenings, it can also inevitably become a platform of hate.
Most recently, Rare Beauty founder Selena Gomez decided to take a break once again from Instagram after Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber allegedly "shaded" her on TikTok. There's also Iza Calzado who is taking the time to prepare for the coming of her little one offline.
Other than Selena and Iza, here are some of the local and international celebrities who took a break from social media to focus on their well-being.
McCoy de Leon
In January, Filipino love team McLisse made rounds on social media following the actor’s confirmation through his Instagram stories that they have already broken up, amid the rumors of McCoy de Leon allegedly cheating on his partner, Elisse Joson.
On his Instagram stories, the 28-year-old actor clarified that there was no third party involved, “Wala pong involved na ibang tao sa pinaka-rason kaya kami naghiwalay. Sana maniwala po kayo,” he wrote.
“Hindi ko po intensyon na manakit ng tao o manloko. Sadyang dumating lang po sa point na sobrang bigat ng problema kaya po ako sumuko,” he added.
Following this, he cleared out his Instagram feed, leaving only a family photo.
Early in February, McCoy confirmed that he and Elisse have reconciled, confirming the rumors that they have gotten back together.
Yen Santos
With her involvement in the controversial split of Paolo Contis and LJ Reyes, Yen Santos cleared out her Instagram feed and following in September 2021. She wasn’t active on social media for over a month.
She went back on the app with having only one following, her now-boyfriend Paolo Contis. Paolo later confirmed that they are officially in a relationship in January.
AJ Raval
The 22-year-old Viva actress took a break from social media in 2021 amid being tangled in a controversial split of ex-couple Aljur Abrenica and Kylie Padilla.
In an interview, AJ shared that she wasn’t even that she was one of YouTube’s top breakout creators in the Philippines and that she landed the third spot on the list of most-searched female personalities on Google in 2021.
“I am tired of the bashings. I am even receiving death threats,” said AJ, stressing that she took a break for her mental health as she was experiencing mental breakdowns.
“There are so many people who are mad at me. Yes, I admit I’m affected by what’s happening, but as days went by, I realized that no matter how hard I’d try to explain, not everyone would understand my situation.”
The actress is now back on social media and went Instagram official with her boyfriend Aljur on Valentine's Day.
Kris Aquino
In September 2022, queen of all media Kris Aquino went on hiatus on social media for a month and returned in November to update her followers about her health condition. At that time, she was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases, and was preparing to fly to the United States for her treatment.
She wrote: "After my results, the team shall decide what treatment will be best because the coordinator admitted I’m a 'challenge' since I’m allergic to so many types of medicine including all steroids. Pang case study daw ako- 1 person with multiple autoimmune conditions & over 100 known allergic or adverse reactions to medication."
Kris has been consistently posting health updates on her Instagram account.
Kim Seon-ho
In October 2021, the crowd’s favorite “good boy” went on hiatus, following the alleged personal controversy he had involving his ex-girlfriend. In May 2022, Seon-ho went back to Instagram, apologizing to his fans.
“I'm sorry for making you have a hard time due to my shortcomings,” he wrote, adding, “Thank you for celebrating my birthday so excessively this year.”
The Hometown Cha Cha Cha star recently conquered the Manila stage in January as part of his "One, Two, Three, Smile" tour, where he was overwhelmed with the support of her Filipino fans.
Ed Sheeran
The British singer-songwriter has been on and off hiatus following the end of his tours. In 2019, Ed Sheeran took a break for 18 months after touring around the world for two years during his record-breaking Divide tour. Recently, he took a pause with social media starting in November 2022, and resumed activities in January 2023 by posting a video explaining his hiatus.
"The reason I'm making this video, just being totally honest, I've had some turbulent things happening in my personal life so I didn't really feel like being online and pretending to be something I'm not when I'm wasn't feeling like that," the Perfect singer said.
Tom Holland
In August 2022, Tom Holland, the star behind the goofy yet mighty superhero Spiderman announced that he will be taking a time off social media to focus on his mental health.
After the success of his Spiderman films, Tom shared how the social media platforms are being “overstimulating, overwhelming, and I get caught and I spiral when I read things about me online, and ultimately, it’s very detrimental to my mental state,” he said in the video.
The star has occasionally posted mostly promotional materials for organizations like The Brother’s Trust and stem4, a Teenage Mental Health Charity.
Emma Watson
Harry Potter and Little Women star Emma Watson has been on hiatus for a long time and occasionally posts promotional materials for a brand or for her advocacy on her accounts.
In May 2021, she broke her nine-month-long hiatus to refute engagement rumors by posting a series of tweets.
“Dear Fans, Rumours about whether I’m engaged or not, or whether my career is “dormant or not” are ways to create clicks each time they are revealed to be true or untrue,” she tweeted.
“If I have news - I promise I’ll share it with you,” she added.
Dear Fans,
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) May 17, 2021
Rumours about whether I’m engaged or not, or whether my career is “dormant or not” are ways to create clicks each time they are revealed to be true or untrue.
Her latest post on social media is on her Instagram account, a joint post with the luxury brand, Prada.