Cara Delevingne's Diss Toward R. Kelly Cost Her 50K Instagram Followers

Cara Delevingne Lost Followers Slamming R. Kelly
Cara Delevingne at the WSJ. Magazine 2018 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on November 7, 2018. Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards

Cara Delevingne had no fear in rebuking accused predator R. Kelly on social media, but she claimed the good deed wound up costing her more than 50,000 followers on Instagram. She currently has 41.2 million Instagram followers. However, she reposted W magazine's article to her Instagram Story on Friday to suggest she's now down 100,000 followers.

"I lost more than 50,000 followers yesterday after posting about @rkelly," Delevingne, 26, wrote via Instagram on Friday. "Every time I say something real, something I truly believe, something others may think of as controversial, something that makes people think and ask questions, I lose followers."

Delevingne recognized that those who unfollowed her "clearly don't agree" with the sentiment she aimed to promote. However, she isn't letting her diminished follower numbers rain on her parade. Instead, she said her goal for 2019 is to focus on speaking out like this more.

"I want to be more confrontational. Confrontation IS NOT VIOLENCE btw, it's communication. Something I still struggle with," she wrote. "I have always been taught to avoid confrontation at all costs, which caused me to be silent most of my life, silence causes suppression and suppression causes sickness. Not anymore! Goodbye silence and backwards followers, hello confrontation and forward thinkers. It's going to be a loud year."

Delevingne first addressed Kelly's alleged misconduct in an extensive message via Instagram on Thursday. In doing so, she explained her decision to boycott Kelly after she finished watching Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. She urged "more musicians" to "stand up against" the R&B singer. She also praised John Legend, Jada Pinkett Smith, Keke Palmer and Lady Gaga for denouncing Kelly, a man she referred to as a "monster."

"I finished the Surviving R Kelly documentary last night and I am so shocked and outraged at how long this has gone on. My heart goes out to all the victims of his emotional and physical abuse and their families," Delevingne began. "This man is a predator that feeds of power and in my opinion is far worse than Harvey Weinstein and needs to be held accountable. I am not trying to compare the two, my point is, Harvey is being investigated and R Kelly is not. We have ourselves to blame in this situation."

Delevingne continued, "I knew of the allegations but failed to try and understand the severity of the situation. I still continued to listen to his music. Stop separating art from the artist, just because he sings like an angel, doesn't mean he is one."

Delevingne continued to raise awareness of Kelly's wrongdoings by sharing a screengrab from The Shade Room to her Instagram Story that featured comments from Nick Cannon. The Masked Singer host, who collaborated with Kelly for "Gigolo" in 2003, slammed the "Ignition" singer in a statement he shared to Instagram on Thursday.

"I have to be one of the first to admit that in my past I've DEFINITELY turned a blind eye to a lot of darkness in this industry. Let's stop beating around the bush and call it what it is," the post's caption read. "This entire industry was established and built by evil and predatorily spirits and male chauvinistic behavior. And since the recent media outrage pertaining to @RKELLY I have realized that the REAL issue at hand is the ultimate lack of care and disrespect for our QUEENS."

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more

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