Ever wonder how some celebrities seem to gain followers at an astronomical rate on social media? Chances are, many of those new fans aren’t real people at all. You’ve probably heard of bot accounts by now – fake profiles that are programmed to automatically like, comment on, and follow accounts to make them appear more popular than they really are. Many Celebrities with the most fake follower, celebrities and public figures employ bot services to boost their numbers and gain more real followers. We analyzed 15 major celebrities and found some with shockingly high percentages of fake followers – some with over 50% of their fans coming from bots. Read on to find out which stars have the most fabricated social media popularity. The results may surprise you.
Celebrities with the most fake follower
Katy Perry – 49% Fake Instagram Followers
When it comes to fake followers on Instagram, Katy Perry takes the cake. Nearly half of Katy’s 108 million Instagram followers are bots, according to a 2019 study.
Katy isn’t alone though. Many major celebrities have millions of fake followers padding their numbers. The reason? Vanity and money. More followers means more influence and higher pay from sponsors.
Katy and other celebs often buy fake followers to boost numbers. Shady companies sell bots that automatically follow accounts. The celeb gets more followers, the company gets paid. It’s a win-win, except for fans who think their fave actually has 100 million real fans.
The worst part is Katy and others don’t seem to care. As long as the number goes up and the checks clear, who cares if nearly 50 million followers are fake? The fake follower market has become huge business, with some estimates putting the industry at over $1 billion.
Celebs could take a stand and purge fake followers, but most don’t. After all, would you give up nearly 50 million followers and the perks that come with them? Didn’t think so. Until celebs value authenticity over vanity metrics, the fake follower party will continue. The only way it stops is if fans start calling them out and unfollowing. Your move, Katy Kats.
Justin Bieber – 47% Fake Twitter Followers
When it comes to fake followers, the Biebs is the king. Nearly half of Justin Bieber’s 104 million Twitter followers are bots, spam accounts, and other fakes.
How did this happen? Back in the early 2010s, as Bieber’s fame was exploding, social media marketing was the wild west. His management team employed shady tactics to inflate his numbers, buying followers by the millions from companies that sell fakes. Now Twitter has cracked down on these practices, but the damage is done.
The worst part is that these inflated numbers give a false impression of Bieber’s actual influence and popularity. His real, authentic fan base is much smaller, though still substantial. For comparison, music legends like The Beatles and Michael Jackson, who rose to fame before the social media era, have under 10 million Twitter followers each.
Bieber isn’t alone here – other celebs like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Kim Kardashian also have tens of millions of fake followers. But with nearly 50% fakes, Bieber takes the cake. His team likely thought more followers would make him seem more popular and influential. Instead, it just makes him seem phony and out of touch.
The takeaway? Don’t believe everything you see on social media. Behind the scenes, shady practices are often used to inflate numbers and manipulate perceptions. Even the biggest stars aren’t immune to these digital deceptions. When it comes to the Biebs’ follower count, less would actually be more.
Taylor Swift – 43% Fake Instagram Followers
The Queen of Pop…and Bots
With over 139 million Instagram followers, Taylor Swift is one of the most popular celebrities on social media. However, recent analyzes show that nearly 43% of her followers are fake accounts or bots. While some level of fake followers is common for major public figures, 43% is on the higher end of the spectrum.
Swift’s huge following and engagement on Instagram has led to major endorsement deals and sponsorships over the years. Companies pay top dollar to have Swift promote their products to her legions of fans. But with so many of those “fans” actually being bots, the real level of influence and reach is likely much lower. Some critics argue that celebrities and social media influencers should disclose the percentage of fake followers they have to provide more transparency for brands and companies.
For her part, Swift has denied buying fake followers and says she has no control over bot accounts that choose to follow her. However, as her following has skyrocketed into the hundreds of millions, the sheer volume of bots latching on has also risen dramatically. While Swift remains an incredibly popular and influential figure, her social media numbers are not quite as real as they seem. The next time you see a celebrity boasting about their huge following, it’s worth considering that a good portion of those followers are probably just pretenders.
The issue of fake followers is an ongoing problem for social media platforms trying to crack down on inauthentic accounts and automated bots. However, with celebrities like Taylor Swift having such massive followings, filtering out the fiction from the real fans is easier said than done. Until better solutions are found, take those follower counts with a grain of salt.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 38% Fake Instagram Followers
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most popular athletes on social media, but not all of his followers are real fans. According to a 2019 study, 38% of Ronaldo’s Instagram followers are likely bots. That’s over 77 million fake accounts following the soccer star.
Why So Many Bots?
Ronaldo’s massive popularity and success with Real Madrid and Portugal’s national team have made him an attractive target for bot farms looking to appear more legitimate. The bots follow popular celebrities and public figures to seem like authentic accounts, then are often sold or used to spread spam, scams and misinformation.
Ronaldo isn’t alone though. Other huge celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (49% fake followers), Kylie Jenner (46%), Beyoncé (42%), and Kim Kardashian (42%) also have tens of millions of bot followers padding their numbers according to the study. The issue of fake followers is widespread on Instagram and other platforms.
Does it Matter?
For Ronaldo’s sponsors and business partners, the bot followers could be seen as misleading and result in lower engagement rates. However, Ronaldo’s popularity is so immense that even with over 77 million fake accounts removed, he would still have over 200 million real followers—more than enough to satisfy any brand. For most purposes, the bots seem to pose little threat to Ronaldo’s social media dominance and success.
The bot problem is unlikely to go away anytime soon. But as long as celebrities like Ronaldo continue to build their followings through authentic interactions and high-quality content, the majority of their followers should remain real fans and supporters. The bots will continue to chase clout and scam victims, but engaged communities centered around shared interests will persevere.
Ariana Grande – 35% Fake Twitter Followers
Ariana Grande has one of the highest percentages of fake Twitter followers among major celebrities. An analysis found that 35% of her followers are likely bots.
Buying Popularity
With over 60 million Twitter followers, Ariana Grande is one of the most popular celebrities on the platform. However, her huge following didn’t happen organically. According to several studies, Grande has purchased a large number of fake followers, known as “bots,” to inflate her popularity and gain more real followers. These bots are automated accounts that follow and like posts to make accounts seem more popular than they really are.
Impact on Engagement
The high percentage of fake followers means that Grande’s real engagement with fans is lower than her huge following would suggest. For example, while 60 million followers should translate to hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets for each post, her tweets average only around 100,000 likes and 20,000 retweets. The bots don’t actually engage with or spread her content.
Common Among Celebrities
Grande isn’t alone in relying on bots to boost her stats. Many major celebrities, especially those active on social media, have been found to have a significant portion of fake followers. For celebrities, social media popularity and high follower counts are a way to stay relevant and land lucrative endorsement deals and sponsorships. While buying bots may seem like an easy way to gain more clout, it results in an inaccurate representation of their real influence and fan base.
In summary, while Ariana Grande has built up an impressive social media following over the years, a large portion of her 60 million Twitter followers are bots that she likely paid for to help propel her popularity. The high percentage of fake followers hurts her real engagement and gives an inflated sense of her influence on the platform. Like other celebrities, Grande would be better served focusing on authentic fan connections rather than playing the numbers game.
Kim Kardashian – 33% Fake Instagram Followers
Kim Kardashian is one of the biggest celebrities on Instagram, but unfortunately, many of her followers aren’t real people. A recent audit of her account found that 33% of her followers are fake bots.
Why So Many Bots?
When you have over 148 million followers, bots and fake accounts see an opportunity. They follow popular accounts like Kim’s hoping that some real followers will follow them back, not realizing the accounts are fake. Kim’s huge following and popularity makes her an ideal target for bot farms looking to boost their numbers.
While 33% fake followers may seem high, it’s actually lower than the average of about 15% for accounts with over 1 million followers. Still, with nearly 50 million real fans, Kim’s influence and earning potential on Instagram remains massive. For celebrities at her level of fame, bots are an unfortunate side effect that comes with the territory of having an enormous, highly-engaged following.
What Can Be Done?
Not much, unfortunately. Kim could report obvious bot accounts to try and get them removed, but more would quickly pop up to replace them. The only real solution is for Instagram itself to improve bot detection and removal. Some steps they’ve taken include:
- Requiring verified phone numbers and email addresses to sign up new accounts. This makes it harder for bot farms to create fake profiles in bulk.
- Using machine learning to analyze account activity and followers/following ratios to identify suspicious behavior. Accounts that follow an abnormal amount of people or have a high percentage of followers who never like or comment on their posts can then be reviewed.
- Allowing users to report accounts they suspect are fake. Instagram investigates reports and removes accounts found to be violating their policies.
While not perfect, these techniques have helped reduce fake accounts and bots on Instagram. But for mega-celebrities like Kim Kardashian, bots will likely remain a fact of social media life for the foreseeable future. The huge scale of their followings means there will always be holes for inauthentic accounts to slip through. Fans just have to become savvy in spotting the difference.
Kylie Jenner – 31% Fake Instagram Followers
The Queen of Instagram
With over 150 million Instagram followers, Kylie Jenner seems to rule social media. However, recent studies found that nearly 31% of her followers are fake accounts or bots. While having some bogus followers is common for major celebrities, Kylie’s percentage is quite high.
Kylie grew up on reality TV and has leveraged her fame and family name into a billion-dollar cosmetics company. She is a social media native and knows how to engage her fans. Still, many of her followers appear to be bots that automatically like and comment on her posts to make her seem more popular than she really is. These fake accounts are often easy to spot with no profile photo, few posts, and generic compliments like “Gorgeous!” and “Beautiful pic!”
Some speculate that Kylie or her management team may have purchased followers to inflate her numbers and make her seem more influential. Buying followers is a common tactic, but it’s considered inauthentic and can damage credibility. Kylie doesn’t seem to need the extra followers, given her real popularity and success. However, old habits of wanting to seem more popular than reality for fame and fortune can be hard to break.
While Kylie will likely always have a sizable bot following, focusing on engaging with real fans and followers is most important for building genuine influence and connection. Kylie has so much success and talent that she doesn’t need to rely on vanity metrics. Her fans will support her no matter what the follower count says. Authenticity and transparency will serve her well in the long run.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – 27% Fake Instagram Followers
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is one of the biggest stars on social media, but not all of his followers are real fans. According to a 2019 study, 27% of The Rock’s Instagram followers are fake accounts or bots. While over 150 million people do genuinely follow the movie star and former pro wrestler, more than 40 million of his followers are inauthentic.
Why So Many Bots?
With a huge social following comes a huge target for fake follower farms and bot accounts. The more popular a celebrity becomes, the more bots and fake fans will flock to their profiles to seem more legitimate. The Rock’s massive popularity and status as one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood make him an ideal target for bot networks and fake follower farms looking to boost their numbers.
Some signs that a large portion of The Rock’s followers are inauthentic:
- Very low engagement rates for his number of followers. With over 190 million followers, his posts should receive millions of likes and tens of thousands of comments, but often get a fraction of that.
- Many followers have default profile photos, no profile photos, or stolen photos. Authentic accounts usually feature photos of the actual user or their interests.
- Strange usernames with random numbers and letters. Most real people have usernames that relate to their name or interests in some way.
- Large volumes of new followers in short periods of time. The Rock gains millions of new followers some months, which is highly unlikely for even the most popular of celebrities.
- Comments that seem spammy, overly complimentary, or out of context. Bots often leave strange comments that seem programmed to flatter and engage.
While The Rock still has one of the largest social media followings of any celebrity, a significant chunk of that following comes from inauthentic sources looking to boost their own numbers. But with his charisma, humor, and blockbuster movies, The Rock will likely continue gaining more real fans to balance it out.
Beyoncé – 25% Fake Instagram Followers
Beyoncé is one of the biggest stars on the planet, so it’s no surprise she has an enormous following on Instagram with over 157 million followers. However, a recent audit found that about 25% of those followers—nearly 40 million—are fake accounts, likely bots.
Why So Many Bots?
When you’re as famous as Beyoncé, bots and fake followers flock to your account. Some are spam accounts promoting products, while others are simply trying to make the account seem more popular than it really is. Beyoncé’s team likely buys some fake followers themselves to inflate her numbers.
- Her huge following gives the perception of popularity and influence. More followers means she can charge more for sponsored posts and brand deals.
- It’s difficult for celebrities to determine which followers are real or fake. Beyoncé would have to audit her account to remove bots, which risks losing real followers in the process.
The Downside of So Many Fake Followers
While a big following seems impressive, too many fake accounts can undermine an influencer’s credibility and trustworthiness. Savvy brands will analyze an influencer’s engagement and do their own audit to determine the authenticity of followers before partnering with them.
Beyoncé is such an iconic star that she maintains extremely high engagement despite the bots. But for influencers with a high percentage of fake followers and little real engagement, brands may see through the facade and look for more authentic partners. In the end, real influence comes from real people, not just numbers on a screen.
Selena Gomez – 23% Fake Instagram Followers
A Social Media Star
As one of the biggest pop stars and social media influencers, Selena Gomez has over 150 million Instagram followers. However, a recent audit found that nearly 23% of her followers are likely bots, fake accounts used to inflate follower numbers.
While having a huge following provides major benefits like sponsorships and brand deals, many celebrities struggle with fake follower bots. These automated accounts are designed to follow popular users in hopes of appearing more legitimate and gaining real followers in return. They comment, like and engage to seem authentic but it’s all programmed behavior.
For Selena, over 34 million of her followers may not be real fans but rather bots programmed to engage with her account. This type of disingenuous following can reflect poorly and call into question the legitimacy of her social influence. However, Selena still has an extremely devoted real fan base that has followed her career from her Disney days through her pop music success.
An Ongoing Issue
Fake social media followers are an ongoing issue that many public figures face. While Selena has one of the highest percentages of potential bot followers, other major celebrities like Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber also have over 10% fake followers according to various audits. The key is for celebrities to focus on engaging with their real, authentic fans who support them, not just inflating follower numbers with bots.
Selena continues to be an inspiration to her real fans through her openness about personal struggles, her chart-topping music and her philanthropic work. While her huge following and social influence secures her position as a pop culture icon, what really matters are the real people who love and support her. The bots may keep following but her true fans will always be there.
Rihanna – 21% Fake Instagram Followers
The Queen of Instagram
With over 126 million Instagram followers, Rihanna reigns as the queen of the social media platform. However, recent analyzes show that 21% of her followers—over 26 million accounts—are likely bots. While having some fake followers is common for major celebrities, over a fifth of her fan base being inauthentic is quite high.
Rihanna frequently posts sultry selfies, behind-the-scenes photos from her various business ventures like Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, and the occasional meme. Her posts receive millions of likes and tens of thousands of comments, many of which are generic, repetitive, or don’t seem to relate directly to the content. These types of comments and interactions are telltale signs of bot accounts, programmed to automatically like and comment on posts to appear more human.
Bots are often used to inflate follower counts and engagement to make accounts seem more popular than they really are. In Rihanna’s case, while she undoubtedly has a massive real following, the bots likely make her seem even more influential and help her land highly coveted brand deals and partnerships. However, as social media platforms crack down on fake accounts and people become more aware of the bot problem, these inflated numbers may end up damaging her authenticity and trustworthiness with fans in the long run.
Rihanna isn’t alone in having a sizable bot following. Many other celebrities like Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and Cristiano Ronaldo also have over 10-15% fake followers. But with the highest percentage of the bunch, Rihanna’s Instagram reign may be a bit more precarious than her crown lets on. Her kingdom could start to crumble if she doesn’t take measures to purge the bots and focus on authentic fan engagement.
Jennifer Lopez – 19% Fake Instagram Followers
The Queen of Social Media
With over 150 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, JLo is undoubtedly the queen of social media. However, her huge following hasn’t come without its share of bots and fake accounts. According to several studies, about 19% of JLo’s Instagram followers are fake accounts, making her #12 on the list of celebs with the most fake social media followers.
While 19% may not seem like a lot, when you have 150 million followers, that adds up to over 28 million fake accounts following the multi-talented superstar. The likely reason for so many fake JLo followers is that she was an early adopter of social media, joining Twitter way back in 2009 and Instagram in 2012. The longer someone has been on social media, the more time fake accounts and bots have had to attach themselves to that person’s follower list.
Another reason for the fake followers could be JLo’s rabid fan base and status as a pop culture icon. Scammers and bots know that people are highly engaged with her content, so they latch on in an attempt to seem more legitimate or spread spam and scams to real followers. Some fake accounts even copy JLo’s profile photo and bio in an effort to trick people into following what they think is the real JLo account.
While 19% fake followers isn’t terrible, and some level of bots is inevitable for any hugely popular celebrity, JLo and her team would be wise to do an audit of accounts from time to time. Blocking or removing fake and spam accounts will improve her real engagement numbers and ensure her loyal fans are seeing her authentic content, not bots and scams. For her fans, the best way to avoid following fake JLo accounts is to double check that any account you follow has the verified blue checkmark.
Priyanka Chopra – 17% Fake Instagram Followers
A Social Media Star
With over 38 million Instagram followers, Priyanka Chopra is one of the biggest stars on the platform. However, not all of those followers are real people. According to a 2019 study, about 17% of Chopra’s Instagram followers are bots, fake accounts designed to boost her popularity and engagement.
Chopra likely pays for many of these fake followers to give the illusion of a larger fanbase. While having some bots follow you is common for celebrities, especially when you first start gaining fame, having too many fake followers undermines your authenticity and credibility.
Why Have So Many Bots?
There are a few reasons Chopra and other stars may pay for fake followers:
- Vanity. Having a huge following makes them seem more popular and in-demand.
- Sponsorships. Companies may be more willing to partner with influencers who have millions of followers, even if many are bots.
- Staying Relevant. In an era of short-lived fame, buying followers is a way to stay trendy and keep people talking about you.
- Peer Pressure. When other celebrities have tens of millions of followers, there is pressure to keep up to be seen as being on their level.
Of course, having too many fake followers often backfires. Savvy fans and brands will eventually realize the deception and see the celebrity as inauthentic. The only way to build a truly loyal following is by producing great content, engaging with real fans, and maintaining your integrity. Here’s hoping Priyanka Chopra cleans up her act and focuses on what really matters: connecting with her true supporters.
Ellen DeGeneres – 15% Fake Twitter Followers
A Surprising Finding
Ellen DeGeneres has over 77 million Twitter followers, but recent studies found that around 15% of them are fake accounts or bots. While 15% may not seem like a lot, that’s still over 11 million inauthentic accounts following the popular talk show host and comedian. For someone so influential, having over 10 million fake followers is quite significant and concerning.
DeGeneres likely has no control over these fake accounts following her, but it does call into question how many of her viral tweets and retweets are from real people versus bots and spam accounts. Her large following and social media influence is appealing to companies and brands, so the high percentage of fake followers is problematic. It means a sizable portion of the people potentially seeing sponsored content and ads on her account are not real potential customers or clients.
How Did This Happen?
As celebrities and public figures gain more followers, bots and fake accounts flock to them to appear more legitimate and influential. DeGeneres’ huge following and popularity made her an obvious target. The accounts following her are a mix of spam accounts promoting products, services or scams, as well as bots that automatically follow popular accounts.
While there’s no way for DeGeneres to remove all the fake followers, continued monitoring and occasional purges of suspicious accounts can help reduce the percentage over time. For those looking to partner with her for brand deals or sponsorships though, these studies highlight the importance of analyzing her real audience reach and engagement versus just her total follower count. The true measure of influence comes from real people, not bots.
Kendall Jenner 20 % Fake Instagram Followers
Kendall Jenner, model and reality TV star, has over 128 million Instagram followers. However, analytics tools estimate that around 20% of those followers are fake bots. That’s over 25 million fake followers inflating her popularity.
Why So Many Bots?
When you have a huge social media following, bots and fake accounts flock to you. Some reasons Kendall has so many fake followers:
- She’s famous, so bots follow celebrities to seem more legitimate.
- Her family’s show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, was on air for over a decade. Bots likely followed her when the show was popular to gain more followers themselves.
- She’s considered an influencer, so bots follow influencers to eventually sell their accounts or use them to promote products and scams.
- Her Instagram account has been active since 2011, giving bots plenty of time to follow her over the years.
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While 20% fake followers isn’t the highest percentage on this list, 25 million bots is still a huge number. The more followers someone has, the more bots they tend to attract. Kendall would have over 100 million real, engaged followers if the bots were removed, which is still an incredible number.
Like other celebrities, there’s not much Kendall can do to remove bots and fake accounts. The best approach is for her to focus on engaging with her real fans and followers, continuing to post authentic content, and not buying followers to inflate her numbers. Real followers are always better than bots, even if there are less of them. Quality over quantity, as the saying goes.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the celebrities with the most fake followers on social media. While some level of bot activity is inevitable on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, these celebs take it to another level. Their enormous yet inauthentic followings are a reminder that you can’t believe everything you see online. At the end of the day, the only metric that really matters is true fan engagement. No amount of bots can make up for real people who genuinely connect with you and your work. The next time you see an influencer boasting about their huge following, take it with a grain of salt. The truth is often far less impressive.
