Rapper Tyler, the Creator (real name Tyler Gregory Okonma) of Odd Future fame loves himself some social media. He’s an avid Twitter user, with over 1 million followers and an active account. He’s also a big Vine user and he loves Instagram, which is why he got apoplectic yesterday when it appeared he’d been kicked off the photo-sharing platform. He unleashed a torrent of (NSFW) tweets about the situation, implying that this is the third Instagram account he has had deleted:
DUDE MY FUCKING INSTAGRAM GOT FUCKING BANNED WTF THEY TOOK IT DOWN WTF
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) May 14, 2013
I DIDNT EVEN PUT ANYTHING BAD UP WTF
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) May 14, 2013
The outrage might seem a bit volatile, but considering his social media following, celebrity, and the fact that his accounts keep getting deleted, it seems fairly justified. Then Tyler got a tad melodramatic:
MAYBE THIS IS THE DOWNFALL OF MY CAREER. INSTAGRAM GETS TAKEN DOWN THEN I BLOW ALL MY MONEY ON A NEW DRUG HABIT THEN OD IN MY HOUSE
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) May 14, 2013
For the record, these are some of the less-profanity-riddled excerpts from his Twitter rant, which went on a while longer. Then his Instagram account @feliciathegoat got reinstated, and he promptly posted the picture blow, which he took when his account had been deleted.
Now, there’s no proof that his Instagram account was actually deleted, though his followers tweeted that they were also outraged. Digital Trends asked Instagram to confirm, but a spokesperson said they do not share that kind of information. The only thing they’d say: “We take action against accounts with content that violates our Terms of Use and Community Guideline.”
Tyler, the Creator is not exactly the king of PC, so there are a few things in the Terms of Use and Community Guidelines that could’ve landed him in hot water with Instagram. The second term of service states “You may not post violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content via the Service.” That’s a pretty wide umbrella – and one that many celebs and regular users get away with on Instagram … we’re looking at you, Rihanna.
Though Tyler said he “didn’t put anything bad up,” he did put pictures of the following, which could have led to his momentary Instagram ban:
- A selfie on a toilet, which probably falls under “partially nude,” though you can’t actually see anything explicit.
- A picture of Odd Future collaborator Yung Taco asleep, and Tyler has covered Taco’s mouth in disgusting-looking mayonnaise. Perhaps Instagram thinks this is hateful?
- A blue condom.
- A photo of his album with the words “Tyler, the Creator” crossed out and replaced by discriminatory terms.
- A picture of someone, presumably him, peeing into a garbage can.
A picture of a signature on a credit card swiper – where he signed as “Jay-Z” instead of himself.
A picture of a signature on a credit card swiper – where he signed as “Jay-Z” instead of himself.Now, these photos are definitely outside of many people’s definitions of good taste, but they’re not exactly especially explicit compared to what many people put on Instagram, so there’s no stand-out red flag photo that makes it obvious why Instagram kicked him out.
What exactly happened? Unless Instagram tells Tyler and he talks about it, it will remain a little mystery. But if you’re worried about getting kicked off Instagram, avoid condom pictures and homophobic slurs. And impersonating Jay-Z.
