Nearly Half Of The Kardashian Sisters’ Social Media Followers Are Reportedly Fake
Kim Kardashian has millions of followers on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, making her one of the most-followed people on the platforms. But a recent study claims that perhaps she isn’t as popular as she appears.
According to ICMP, a school based in London, 44 percent of those Insta accounts following Kim are allegedly fake, and 43 percent of her overall followers aren’t real. Kim is far from alone. Her sister Kourtney Kardashian has 46 percent fake followers, and Khloe Kardashian has 43 percent. Momager Kris Jenner comes in a bit lower, with 42 percent of her followers appearing not to be real accounts.
The Jenner sisters fared better in the rankings, with Kendall only having 34 percent of fake followers, and Kylie Jenner with 33 percent.
The TV celebrity who reportedly has the most fake followers? That’s Ellen DeGeneres, with 58 percent fake Instagram accounts following her, and 41 percent fake Twitter users. Taylor Swift doesn’t do much better. Of her nearly 120 million followers on Instagram, only 51 percent of them are real.
The person with the most allegedly fake followers overall is sports star Toni Kroos, with 57 percent fake Instagram followers.
The school says it hopes to shed some light on how many people are actually interested in a celebrity’s brand, given that it can mean a lot of cash in endorsement deals. Back in 2017, Us Weekly revealed that the Kardashian sisters can get six-figures for a social media endorsement.
Kim reportedly got $500,000 for a campaign, and the sisters have featured things like weight loss products, waist trainers and, of course, clothing.
In fact, one expert says that in 2017, about a quarter of the sisters’ income was coming from sponsored social media posts.
That said, things don’t always pay off for the reality stars. Recently Kim posted a teaser for her KKW Beauty line that showed her wearing a flesh-toned outfit and posing in a stone tub, according to Elle.
“My ultimate body perfecting secret is launching to @kkwbeauty on 6.21.19. Can you guys guess what is it is?” she captioned the post.
Of course, social media users jumped in to guess, and many of the suggestions weren’t so nice. Many people speculated that the secret was more plastic surgery.
Kim has been plagued by rumors that she has undergone the knife to change her body, something she has repeatedly denied.
“Everyone always thinks I’ve had my nose done or my lips done or just anything to my face like besides Botox, which to me isn’t plastic surgery,” she said in 2012.
“I am very frustrated today seeing reports that I got surgery to lose my baby weight! This is FALSE,” she tweeted in 2013.
