The story behind Jennifer Aniston’s internet-breaking Friends reunion pic
Could we BE more excited?
Guys, it’s not overblown to say that the world changed forever last week. Clocks stopped, grown men wept and the Earth stopped turning on its axis. Why? Because actual Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram, and gave us all the Friends reunion of our dreams.
It started like any other day, but then she made her move, singlehandedly breaking the internet with a single monumental photo – a selfie of Jen reuniting with her five Friends co-stars, alongside the caption, “And now we’re Instagram FRIENDS too. HI INSTAGR AM.” Sure enough, within an hour, so many people flocked to her page that it temporarily crashed. Once reinstated, it continued to wreak havoc: in less than 24 hours, her post received nine million likes, while Jen herself gained seven million new followers. She even responded to a few. Seriously, we are not worthy.
To all you eye-rollers, let’s be clear: this was a watershed moment. This is the first time that the main Friends cast has been pictured together since the show ended in 2004. Earlier this month, Jen revealed that the gang had hung out at Courteney’s house – and it seems that Jen was sole keeper of the big photo for her Insta debut. The star is famously reclusive when it comes to social media, and her late arrival sent the who’s who of Hollywood spinning, including Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington and Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco, who wrote, “I. Can’t. Handle. This.” Then Jen’s fellow Friends cast members piped up (bar Matthew Perry, who’s still yet to join Instagram). Courteney Cox melted hearts by writing, “Love you,” while David Schwimmer posted a Lego version of Ross and Rachel, alongside the caption, “Hi Jen!” Oh, and even Jen’s ex husband Justin Theroux joined in, commenting, “Wootwoot,” alongside a heart emoji. As Ashley Tisdale put it, “EPIC.”
If events weren’t exciting enough, Jen then got busy commenting, responding and reposting. Under a photo that Matt Le Blanc posted of the famous six, she wrote, “You don’t have to # me anymore.” Then, in response to one fan who wrote, “Why can’t I follow her though?!” she responded, “Sorry, I think I broke it.” Safe to say that person is still fanning themselves.
As heat went to press, Jen was still breaking records – including reaching one million followers in the shortest time, knocking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle off the top spot. And now all we can do is eagerly await every new post. Please God, let the next one be a selfie of her and Brad Pitt. ■