Why are stars leaving social media sites?
Kanye West, Normani Kordei of Fifth Harmony and Zelda Williams, daughter of the late comedian Robin Williams, left social media over the weekend.
But West was immediately back on, without stating the reason for his temporary departure from Twitter.
Fans noticed early Sunday that the Twitter account @ kanyewest had been deactivated. Knowing West, the world would have known if he chose to deactivate his account. The rapper is never shy about doing lengthy Twitter rants whether to diss Taylor Swift and ex-girlfriend Amber Rose, or complain about the Tidal and Apple rivalry in music streaming.
Just hours after fans noticed his absence on Twitter, the account was reactivated, reported Entertainment Weekly magazine.
Zelda said she wants people to mourn her father, whose second death anniversary is looming, without these appearing on her timeline.
“So, it’s that time of year again. I will be taking another break off social media. For those who always ask why, it’s so people can memorialize Dad on the anniversary of his death however they wish without me having to feel bombarded by it, or pressured by the expectation put on myself or my family to publicly acknowledge or join in doing so,” Zelda’s statement shared on Twitter read.
Robin took his own life on Aug. 11, 2014.
Fans of dead celebrities always expect families to talk about their fallen loved ones.
Paris Jackson, 18, became the target of mean tweets from netizens who noted how she failed to post a father’s day greeting for Michael Jackson last June 19.
“Having eight tattoos dedicated to someone overrules a single post about them on a stupid social media because of a holiday,” Paris tweeted the day after father’s day.
Meanwhile, Zelda continued her statement: “I will always be so grateful for all the love the world had and continues to have for Dad. But for obvious reasons, it’s sometimes harder to be the sort of surviving public vessel for receiving those sentiments, and one often expected to somehow flawlessly express them back.”
For Kordei, she was forced to leave social media following scathing racist remarks from netizens.
“Over the past four years of being in the public eye, I’ve learned to grow a thick skin to critics and those who may not like me. I’ve never been one to deny anyone of their opinions, but over the course of this last week and especially over the last 48 hours, I’ve not just been cyberbullied, I’ve been racially cyberbullied with tweets and pictures so horrific and racially charged that I can’t subject myself any longer to the hate,” Kordei said in a statement released on Twitter.
“I’m not the first black female celebrity to deal with this and I’m sure I won’t be the last. I want to take this moment to say love goes much further than hate in this world. Hiding behind a computer and putting people down, especially for the color of their skin doesn’t make you cool, it makes you a coward!”
Just last month, Leslie Jones was at the receiving end of racially charged tweets—often calling her a gorilla—and she fought back with a lengthy Twitter rant. After Jones lashed out at Twitter for allowing racial tweets, the Ghostbusters actress was called to a meeting by the owner of Twitter.
That meeting prompted the deactivation of some of the Twitter accounts traced to have started the racial statements against Jones.
In the case of Kordei, 20, she also mentioned that Twitter took action against her detractors.
Her Fifth Harmony mate also came to her defense.
Camila Cabello, the most popular of the five-member Fifth Harmony, tweeted: “You don’t have to hate on somebody else to support me. I don’t appreciate it and it’s not what I’m about. Be kind or move on.”
Singer Becky G also tweeted at Kordei: “You’re so strong.”