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As a measure to “enhance platform authenticity,” microblogging platform X is conducting a thorough cleanup to remove dormant, fake, or bot accounts.
Besides Anupam Kher, Ronaldo and Justin Bieber also lost their X followers. (Photo credits: Instagram)
Sometimes, the follower count on social media accounts suddenly drops, catching you off guard. This can happen for simple reasons: followers cleaning up their feeds, algorithm changes, your posts no longer aligning with what people initially followed you for, or simply because you’re not active enough for the app to keep you on its radar.
A similar situation recently unfolded on the micro-blogging platform X, causing several high-profile celebrities to lose millions of followers. Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher was among those affected. The reason? A thorough cleanup aimed at “enhancing platform authenticity.”
Anupam Kher Seeks Answers From Elon Musk Over Losing 90,000 Followers On X
On Thursday (December 3), Anupam Kher took to X to share his concerns with the issue by tagging tech giant and billionaire Elon Musk. The 70-year-old wrote, “Dear Mr Elon Musk, I have lost more than 900000 followers in the last 15days! Will you know the reason? Or anybody in your team? By the way, this is an OBSERVATION, not a COMPLAINT! Yet.”
Dear Mr. @elonmusk ! I have lost more than 900000 followers in the last 15days! Will you know the reason! Or anybody in your team? By the way this is an OBSERVATION, not a COMPLAINT! Yet! 🤓— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) December 3, 2025
In no time, his fans and followers on social media began sharing their thoughts. “I think they are removing non-performing or bot accounts right now, so this is the new normal,” one wrote. Another added, “Maybe those followers were inactive or their profiles got deleted.” However, an official response later clarified what was actually happening.
Grok Offered An Explanation
Now, Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company, has responded to the issue. “Based on recent reports, X is purging millions of fake, bot, and dormant accounts to enhance platform authenticity. This has caused follower drops for many, including celebrities like Justin Bieber (20M loss) and Ronaldo (9M). Anupam Kher’s 900k drop likely stems from this cleanup, not personal issues,” it said.
Based on recent reports, X is purging millions of fake, bot, and dormant accounts to enhance platform authenticity. This has caused follower drops for many, including celebrities like Justin Bieber (20M loss) and Ronaldo (9M). Anupam Kher’s 900k drop likely stems from this…— Grok (@grok) December 3, 2025
Key Details On Purge
Sometime in mid-November, X conducted a bot purge to get rid of spam accounts, enhance platform authenticity, and reduce reply clutter.
This purge especially impacted high-profile celebrities, including pop starsRihanna and Taylor Swift, as well as football icon Ronaldo, who all witnessed a significant dip in their followers. This led to widespread debates on engagement metrics.
By October, the X cleansing initiative had already removed 1.7 million bots focused on reply spam, such as crypto ads. It gained momentum around November 27. There were suspicious covert removals of foreign influencers and impersonators.
Addressing the sudden follower drops, X ensured users that there was nothing to worry about, as the purge only reflects bot cleanups rather than actual losses. This effort is a part of Elon Musk’s ongoing anti-spam campaign. Some of his previous initiatives include the April 2024 spam crackdown.
Which Type Of Accounts Were Targeted In Purge?
Bot accounts with spam replies, crypto scams or automated junk content were removed.
Fake or automated profiles that helped boost follower counts or faked engagement were taken down. Even big creators saw a dip.
Action was taken against accounts involved in impersonation, fake locations or DM spamming. In fact, X intends to shift its attention to DM spam next.
Inactive or long-abandoned accounts were also part of the clean-up.
Celebs Who Lost Followers In X’s November Purge
Justin Bieber took the biggest hit, losing nearly 20 million followers. Rihanna followed, with a drop of around 10 million.
Cristiano Ronaldo saw a reduction of about 9 million followers.
Taylor Swift’s follower count fell by approximately 6 million.
Kim Kardashian lost 6.4 million followers, dropping from 75.3M to 68.9M.
Katy Perry’s followers dipped by 3–5 million, settling close to 107M.
Even Elon Musk wasn’t spared. Last year, he lost 43,000 followers during a similar X cleanup.
Did Any Bollywood Star Report A Drop In Followers Due To The 2025 X Purge?
So far, there is no verified data indicating a significant loss of followers for major stars like Shah Rukh Khan (47 million) and Virat Kohli (65 million) amid X’s November-December 2025 bot purge. Most celebrities have maintained stable or only slightly changed follower counts. However, trackers like SocialBlade show that a similar purge in 2018 caused more noticeable drops for these stars:
In the 2018 purge, Amitabh Bachchan lost 424K followers.
Shah Rukh Khan’s count dropped by approximately 350K–362K.
Salman Khan also lost about 300K followers
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December 04, 2025, 08:42 IST
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