Jennifer Aniston Joins Instagram, Breaks Internet—Plus, Other Celebrities & Personalities Who Joined IG Late
Jennifer Aniston joining Instagram is the best news all week. Plus, 11 more celebrities and personalities who are late to the Instagram game, but are catching up anyway!
October 15, 2019, without a doubt, is a day that will go down in history. For years to come, people will remember where they were and what they were doing when they found out that Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram and posted that selfie of the entire F.R.I.E.N.D.S. cast reunited. Overnight, the star gained 6.2 million followers, and Courteney Cox is over the moon that her BFF in the biz is finally on social media. Reese Witherspoon, on the other hand, can’t wait to tag TV sister and Morning Show co-star Jen in Friends memes.
Instagram has definitely come a long way from strictly square photos heavily filtered with “Kelvin” or “Valencia”—remember those?—and has since grown into a billion-dollar industry saturated with influencers, sponsored ads, and never-ending content. That said, it’s always been addictive, and it’s always been the primary platform that celebrities join to connect with their fans and, of course, promote their projects. Here are the celebrities and personalities who have recently joined the social networking site, and some of their best posts, to boot.
Natalie Portman @natalieportman — 5.1 million followers
Joined January 1, 2018
Natalie’s debut post came by way of a Time’s Up grid, at the peak of the #MeToo movement in Hollywood. Since then, she has used the platform to speak about societal issues like gun control and equal pay for women, and throws in a few Star Wars ‘grams every now and then, too, as well as weekly throwback photos and books she’s currently reading.
Nicole Kidman @nicolekidman — 5.5 million followers
Joined January 8, 2018
Like Natalie, Nicole Kidman’s first post had to do with Time’s Up—a photo of her holding up her Golden Globe after her big win at the 2018 Golden Globes, for her work in Big Little Lies. “I am so proud of my Big Little Lies family and to have stood with my sisters on such a special night,” she wrote. Her Instagram account has a healthy mix of promotional material and personal videos of her with her husband, Keith Urban.
Tom Cruise @tomcruise — 3.4 million followers
January 25, 2018
Clearly joining the platform to promote Mission Impossible: Fallout, Tom Cruise isn’t as active on Instagram. A year later, he still only has 39 posts, a huge percentage of which is about Mission Impossible. He’s got a pretty great bio, though.
Princess Eugenie @princesseugenie — 1 million followers
Joined March 8, 2018
Princess Eugenie’s Instagram account has a charming mix of old throwback photos of her and her family, as well as images from her official events—Trooping the Colour, visiting the Data Science Institute at Imperial College, the premiere of American Woman. It’s on Instagram, of course, where she announced her engagement to Jack Brooksbank, launching her account on International Women’s Day.
Julia Roberts @juliaroberts — 6.7 million followers
Joined June 26, 2018
Julia Roberts’ first day on Instagram was a little more understated. “Hello,” she wrote simply, accompanying the caption with a sun emoji. Since her first post in 2018, Julia has posted 147 times, mostly greeting days of the week, sharing photographs of her mom, and sharing unbelievably gorgeous selfies. It’s a nice little window to the personal life of one of the biggest stars on the planet.
Demi Moore @demimoore — 588k followers
Joined October 12, 2018
Demi Moore, who’s been out promoting her memoir, Inside Out, joined Instagram in October last year. Her first post is a video thanking Stella McCartney, showing off the dress she wore to Princess Eugenie’s wedding. Like Natalie, Nicole, and Princess Eugenie, she’s a big fan of her old photos, posting throwbacks regularly. She also welcomed Jennifer Aniston to Instagram, and gave Charlie’s Angels fans a nice little photo of her and Lucy Liu after she attended the latter’s Walk of Fame event.
Jake Gyllenhaal @jakegyllenhaal — 4.8 million followers
Joined December 5, 2018
Jake Gyllenhaal joined the platform to promote Spider-Man: Far From Home, where he played Mysterio. “I just realized I’m not playing Spider-Man,” he joked, filming his "reaction." While mostly promotional—there’s a lot of photos with Tom Holland—fans still are able to gather things he cares about, like the environment, Peter Lindbergh, and Broadway.
Michelle Pfeiffer @michellepfeifferofficial — 880k followers
Joined January 17, 2019
Michelle Pfeiffer said meow—er, rather, hello—to Instagram on January 17, and has since been posting about her cat, her fragrances line, and endearing videos of her looking really excited. Of course, a celeb Instagram account won’t be complete without #TBTs, like this one.
Courteney Cox @courteneycoxofficial — 4.3 million followers
January 30, 2019
Courteney Cox is one of the best celebrities on Instagram, and it’s not just because of the regular Friends content. Since joining the platform in January this year, she has amassed 4 million followers and has, without fail, been her regular funny self. She posts a lot about her daughter, Coco, selfies with her beloved friends and costars, weirdly-filtered Snapchat videos, and ridiculously funny throwback photos.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex @sussexroyal — 9.7 million followers
Joined April 2, 2019
For longtime fans of the Duchess of Sussex, it must’ve been hard to say goodbye to her social media presence, but with her marriage to Prince Harry comes a joint Instagram account! Sussex Royal has been documenting the Duke and Duchess’ official travels and events, as well as the advocacies they are pushing for, like mental health and women empowerment.
Photos from @courteneycoxofficial @jenniferaniston @demimoore
