Shailene Woodley had an unassuming start in Hollywood, but over the years, she's become a highly followed celebrity. With nearly five million Instagram followers, her social media was a happening place for Shailene fans to get all the updates about her life, projects, and opinions.But recently, Shailene cleared out her entire Instagram, going dark after what fans say was a moment of controversy. What really happened, and why did Shailene delete all her Instagram posts?
This Isn't The First Time Shailene Has Gone Dark On Instagram
Years ago, Shailene ditched Instagram entirely, deleting her account. In a 2014 interview, she explained why, saying, "Everything I was posting was for a story—like, 'Look how interesting I am.' It felt disgusting to me. It feels as though we're so detached from actual human connection."
Woodley took things a step further, too, noting, "And I got rid of my phone, too. We're all such narcissists, and that's what social media caters to. Our society conditions us to be our own planets, which is great. Independent thinking is so important. But we expect everyone around us to be our moons."
It was an admirable statement at that point when Shailene's career was taking off (the interview with Marie Claire was titled "Shailene Woodley: This is What Bad*** Looks Like").
But years later, she would post up and down Instagram with every detail of her life, from luxurious vacations in Morocco to snarky responses to speculation about her love life (including that apparently doomed-to-fail relationship with Aaron Rodgers).
At least, until she deleted all of it.
Why Did Shailene Woodley Delete Her Instagram Posts?
In September 2022, fans noticed that Shailene had begun deleting her Instagram posts. One Twitter user pointed out that she seemed to be doing so methodically, oldest to newest.
Ultimately, Woodley cleared her Instagram account completely, leaving her 4.8 million followers wondering what was going on.
Though she doesn't seem to have spoken publicly about the decision to wash her Instagram clean, it could have something to do with her most recent breakup.
After all, the actress' dating history is always of fascination to fans, and clearing out the evidence of Aaron Rodgers could be a motivator post-breakup.
But eagle-eyed fans had another theory.
Fans speculated that Shailene had ditched her old Instagram content after being "called out" for sharing video and photos of someone who is an "abuser."
The one-off accusation comes from a fan account that follows Woodley's life and career, but it suggests there was drama in Shailene's comment section before her account went dark.
To date, it's unclear who fans were talking about when they said Shailene was snapped with an "abuser."
Apart from that, Shailene herself may have hinted at an upcoming social media break in August when she posted on Instagram (ironically enough) that a friend had felt bad about a social media post about herself.
Woodley lamented that Instagram shouldn't be a place like that, but should let people laugh at themselves. She elaborated, "I also believe that you can’t give it all away over the internet," and that instead, people should "Keep it sexy in the flesh, you know?"
Shailene also wrote, "It all works out and then we die anyways. it’s not that deep."
Yet the star's social media posts often invite speculation, like that time she posted a cryptic image that had fans thinking she'd welcomed a baby.
In another instance, Shailene posted the quote "Calm seas may bring you peace, but storms are where you’ll find your power." This was around the time when Aaron Rodgers' vaccination controversy was swirling.
When people began reading into the quickly-deleted Story, she posted, "Literally lol’ing over here at your determination to make a story out of nothing. grasping at straws my dears."
Given that track record, fans can only assume Shailene will fill up her Instagram with new posts in no time, though she might call fans out for speculating over why she went dark in the first place.
As of December 2022, the star has added four new posts to Instagram—though it's unclear whether they'll stick around.
What Is Shailene Woodley Doing Now?
Three of Shailene's current four Instagram posts center on environmental and social impact projects. The fourth was a photo followers deemed "hot" that showed the lower half of Shailene's body in a dress.
Aside from posting on Instagram, the actress has been pretty busy. IMDb states that Woodley has five upcoming projects, many of which are in post-production as of December 2022.
Fans will just have to keep watching and waiting to see what Shailene does next—on social media and in Hollywood.