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9 Stars Who Quit Social Media For A Hot Second

Smell ya later, Twitter

For every tweet that restores your faith in humanity, there's one that burrows into your stomach and claws its way through your intestines. That's sadly how the internet works, and websites still have a long way to go when it comes to fighting cyberbullying, which is often directed squarely at celebrities.

Stars don't want the trolls to win, and sometimes that means signing off for a while. Fifth Harmony's Normani Kordei, for example, recently quit Twitter following racist abuse surrounding her support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Last December, Ed Sheeran left social media so he wouldn't "see the world through a screen." He's still silent on all his platforms eight months later — maybe he just needed a break from all the noise — but some artists can't stay away for that long.

Here's a recent history of all your faves who said "thanks, but no thanks" to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Demi Lovato

June 20 – June 21, 2016 (1 day)

Demi kept losing her cool for the summer on Twitter and Instagram, so she said goodbye after being called out for a savage Ariana Grande/Mariah Carey meme. She stayed on Snapchat because fans can't publicly comment or hate on on individual snaps. But the break clearly didn't stick, and she was back the next day with a fiery announcement: "I'm back bitches. And I'm coming back more honest than ever."

Leslie Jones

July 19 – July 21, 2016 (3 days)

The Ghostbusters star endured a slew of sexist, racist tweets following the film's release. So she "signed out," and fans slammed Twitter for its lack of action. Jones soon returned — "Who else is gonna live-tweet Game of Thrones?" — and Twitter banned conservative voice/longtime troll Milo Yiannopoulos for leading the abuse.

Kanye West

August 7 – August 12, 2016 (6 days)

After West's Twitter mysteriously disappeared earlier this month without warning, Twitter told Complex that it may have been a technical glitch. But fans were convinced he deleted it. Whatever the case, Kanye's definitely quit the site before. In October 2012, he tweeted he'd "be back soon." You know how you used to message your middle school crush on AIM, and they'd respond with a vague "brb" and never return? This must be the celeb version of that.

Halsey

April 2 – April 8, 2016 (1 week)

Like 'Ye, Halsey also deactivated her Twitter without any official final words. Trolls had been bothering her about supporting Kehlani, and Instagram followers were mad that she didn't properly credit an artist in one of her posts. So she made the "calm decision" (her exact words) to temporarily leave Twitter. She remained active on Instagram and got back to tweeting a week later.

Azealia Banks

August 1 – August 8, 2016 (8 days)

In May, Twitter suspended Banks' Twitter account after she attacked Zayn Malik with racial slurs — just one of her many abusive Twitter rants over the years. A few months later, she decided to give up social media for good. It didn't last, and she posted on Instagram and Facebook again within two weeks. "When I said I was quitting social media, I meant I was going to stop talking about politics and stop giving my opinions," she later clarified.

Iggy Azalea

February 18 – March 19, 2015 (1 month)

Iggy first signed off Twitter, then Instagram a few weeks later. Why? The short version is that internet trolls criticized sneaky paparazzi pics of her butt — "Apparently it's shocking and unheard of to be a woman and have cellulite," she tweeted at the time. The invasion of privacy combined with the "hatred and pettiness" she saw online led to her exit. For a brief time, her management ran her Twitter and Instagram accounts. She returned on and off for the rest of the year.

Sam Smith

March 1 – June 13, 2016 (3.5 months)

At the 2016 Oscars, Smith made a blunder during his acceptance speech for Best Original Song, won for Spectre's "Writing's on the Wall." He dedicated the award to the LGBT community, saying he was honored to be the first openly gay man to win the Oscar. The only problem? He wasn't. Following this mistake, he "logged off" social media but later returned to share his grief for the victims of the Orlando mass shooting.

Rihanna

May 5, 2014 – November 2, 2014 (6 months)

Back in 2014, Instagram and Rihanna didn't get along. Insta deleted then restored her account, likely because of topless photos from her Lui magazine photo shoot. But even once the app reinstated her handle, Rihanna stayed away for six whole months. Whatever you do, Rih, please don't put your fans through that madness again! Our news feeds need @badgalriri.

Justin Bieber

instagram.com/justinbieber

Justin Bieber Instagram

This week, a shitstorm hit Justin Bieber's Instagram account. Commenters harassed his new girlfriend, Sofia Richie, so much that he threatened to delete his account. Then exes Selena Gomez and Hailey Baldwin chimed in. All this drama made Bieber follow through on his promise — and he said buh-bye to Instagram. It's been less than 24 hours, and let's be real here, it's only a matter of time before he's back. Here's a pro tip for when you do, Justin: Disable the comments.

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