Angelina Jolie has finally joined Instagram and she smashed follower records within hours. The 46-year-old MCU actress and humanitarian took three hours to rack up 2.1 million followers as she signed up to the social media platform this weekend – the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider star’s following has since climbed to almost eight million.
Jolie until now known for being one of the few celebrities without an Instagram handle, has shared two posts. Unlike the average celebrity feed, though, they aren’t of the star herself.
Jolie’s First Posts
Scroll for photos. Angelina signed up to Instagram on August 20 with a photo of a moving letter from a teenage girl in Afghanistan, one facing the return of the Taliban rule. The UNHCR Special Envoy, sharing three slides to form her introductory post, wrote:
“This is a letter I was sent from a teenage girl in Afghanistan,” adding: “Right now, the people of Afghanistan are losing their ability to communicate on social media and to express themselves freely.”
“So I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories and the voices of those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights.”
The ex to Fight Club actor Brad Pitt then recalled her time on the Afghan border, this two weeks before 9/11. She’d “met Afghan refugees who had fled the Taliban. This was twenty years ago.” Jolie called it “sickening” to “watch Afghans being displaced yet again out of the fear and uncertainty that has gripped their country.”
The mom of six, whose bio introduces her as a “mom”, “filmmaker” and “special envoy” for UN refugees, also told her rising fanbase: “To spend so much time and money, to have bloodshed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand.”
Records Are Meant To Be Broken
The actress’ join has beaten the 2020 record made by 52-year-old sitcom star Jennifer Aniston. The Friends star’s account gaining the fastest 1 million followers when she joined last year. Jolie’s sign-up also breaks the 44 minutes it took British TV legend David Attenborough to gain 1 million fans, per the Evening Standard.
Jolie continued to say that watching the Afghan population be treated like a “burden” is “sickening.” She concluded: “Like others who are committed, I will not turn away. I will continue to look for ways to help. And I hope you’ll join me.”
Celebrity Followers
Angelina’s account is now followed by some Hollywood faces. Keeping tabs on her are 23-year-old actress Bella Thorne, Mad Men star January Jones, former High School Musical face Ashley Tisdale, plus supermodel Bella Hadid. The actress is notably not followed by Brad Pitt’s ex-wife, the previous record-holder, Jennifer Aniston.