After a streak of erratic Instagram activity, Megan Fox’s account has become a crime scene and her followers the Sherlock Holmes. Who’s been murdered, you ask? It’s not a question of who, but what, as many are speculating that her relationship with fiancé Machine Gun Kelly might be donezo. Or at least, that’s what Fox’s fans think after she posted a slideshow captioned with lyrics from Beyoncé’s “Pray You Catch Me,” a song believed to be about infidelity.
Then, as if anyone needed more convincing, Fox deleted all photos of MGK from her account. And for her pièce de résistance, she made a point of unfollowing all but three accounts, one of which belonged to her rockstar fiancé’s rapper rival Eminem — leaving the Internet no choice but to believe the couple had split. When she finally deleted her Instagram account altogether Sunday, it was giving major middle-finger energy.
While it’s unclear whether Fox and MGK are actually over, the viral spectacle caused lots of chatter and raised even more questions about breakup etiquette in the social media age. Because while Fox is being hailed as a “savage,” it’s not always easy to know how to deal with decoupling when your partner was once a regular on your feed. Sure, blowing up your Insta account lacks a certain Shakespearian grace, but breakups today are just as hard as they’ve always been — maybe even harder with the added complication of the ubiquitous public forum. And there’s no right way to go about grieving the end of something special in public.
Did Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Actually Celebrate Their Engagement by Drinking Each Other’s Blood?
The happy couple claim they celebrated their upcoming nuptials with a bloody toastDuring a split, social media allows for all new depths of pettiness and scorn in ways big and small. Some, like Kanye, might attempt to slander their exes online. Others, like Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, might keep things very diplomatic with a joint statement announcing their separation. Still, others like Megan Fox and Myspace teens everywhere will engage in the sacred ritual of cryptic-lyrics-as-captions to relieve themselves of a little pain from the loss. And some, also like Fox, may feel the need to expunge any trace of their ex from their online footprint, a controversial exercise that can feel cleansing for some but like a vain attempt at erasing your past for others.
If there’s anything to be learned from the Machine Gun-Megan drama, it’s that every little move carries meaning on social media, where the most minute details have potential to be magnified and analyzed by millions (or, at the very least, your friends and very nosy aunt). But sometimes when you’re trying to heal, all you need is to simply stop seeing that person’s face every time you open your phone. While hardly anything in the social media age feels truly personal, a breakup still can be. And your own self-preservation is more important than how your activity is perceived.
Whether you’re looking to get into shape, or just get out of a funk, The Charge has got you covered. Sign up for our new wellness newsletter today.