Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can be a great way for celebrities to reach fans and promote films, shows and albums — but some celebs avoid it altogether because of trolls who post mean comments or because of the sheer amount of contact, which becomes too much to deal with. Here are nine celebrities who keep it old-school and don’t use social media at all:
9. Kristen Wiig
Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig would likely have a lot of funny observations to share with fans on Twitter, and we’d certainly love to see crazy photos behind the scenes of her movies — but no such luck. “Kristen is not on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Myspace or any other social networking website,” says a post on her very minimal website. “I try to separate who I am, privately and publicly,” she said in an interview with NJ.com. “Sometimes you sort of walk around feeling like you know how to navigate this crazy business, and sometimes it’s really difficult. I like being sort of private.” She also doesn’t want you to take her photo: “The hardest thing for me is cameraphones; that’s really tough for me,” she said. “You know, back when we didn’t have them, it’d be sort of strange if someone whipped out a camera and stuck it in a stranger’s face and now it’s not. I don’t like that at all.”
2
8. Bradley Cooper
The Hangover star Bradley Cooper is another celebrity who avoids social networking sites like Facebook, but not because it makes him uncomfortable: it’s because he thinks that if fans get to know him too intimately, they’ll have trouble seeing him as a different character on-screen. “It’s a taste thing, I see the benefit of it [social networking] for sure,” he said in an interview with Britain’s OK! TV. “It’s a great way to promote ideas and projects.” But here’s why he doesn’t use social media that way: “For me, maybe I’m old fashioned, if I know so much about you and you’re playing a character in a movie then that’s a lot of work I’m gonna have to do to forget who you are so that I can believe the character and therefore enjoy the movie,” he said.
3
7. Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock was hounded by paparazzi when she went through an ugly divorce from Jesse James, the husband who cheated on her. Now that she’s raising an adopted son, she wants to try and shield him from the public as much as she can — and that means no social media. Sandra has also spoken out about how the internet is a cesspool of attacks on women: “I feel like it’s become open hunting season in how women are attacked, and it’s not because of who we are as people,” she said in an interview with E! News. “It’s because of how we look or our age.” She’s also worried about young girls growing up with our current internet culture. “Little girls are having the hardest time with bullying and the Internet,” she said. “Somebody with a very large hand and big voice needs to put a stop to it.”
4
6. Daniel Craig
Don’t expect behind-the-scenes selfies from James Bond (aka Daniel Craig). The 47 year-old Brit said in an interview with Digital Spy that he’d rather talk to people in person, and he’s not interested in reading posts about your breakfast. “I am bloody not [on Facebook]. And I’m not on Twitter either…” he said. “‘Woke up this morning, had an egg’? What relevance is that to anyone? Social networking? Just call each other up and go to the pub and have a drink.”
5
5. Tina Fey
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt creator Tina Fey stays off Twitter because she doesn’t want to read bad, boring posts. “I think you should have to get a license to use Twitter,” she said in a video posted online a few years ago. “Because most people are so f**king boring, that they should shut up.” She said she would grant a few comedy writers licenses, but “Maybe nobody else. Maybe everybody else, go write it in a journal and mail it to your f**king Grandma. Because it’s boring. IT’S BORING.” Way harsh, Tina!
6
4. George Clooney
Some charity-focused celebrities like Ben Affleck and Mark Ruffalo use social media to promote their causes, but actor and director George Clooney avoids Twitter and Facebook because he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing or be too accessible to his fans. “God forbid, you take a sleeping pill and wake up and the sentences don’t even make sense,” he said of social media in an interview. “What a horrible idea…I could easily say something stupid, and I also don’t think you need to be that available.”
7
3. Kristen Stewart
Twilight star Kristen Stewart has always been uncomfortable with the huge amount of fan and paparazzi attention she receives. She hates that people on Twitter will write about seeing her in public: “They go and Twitter them and then the paparazzi know where I am and they drive to my location and it gets crazy. Twitter f**ks me over every day of my life,” she said in a blunt interview with Flaunt magazine. “Because people go, ‘I’m sitting next to Kristen Stewart right now’ and then they show up. I see people on their phones and I just want to take these cookies and throw them. It’s like ‘Get off your f**king phone and get a life!’ I get so mad. It’s like you’re trampling on someone’s life without any regard. And it’s rampant. Everyone can do it now. Buy a camera and you’re paparazzi; get a Twitter account and you’re an informant. It’s so annoying.” She also has said she doesn’t want to post stuff herself, because “The idea of addressing such a massive group … I don’t know who I’m talking to, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” But Kristen actually has a secret Instagram account that she uses to share photos with her close friends. “I have a private Instagram so I can keep in touch with my friends because I’m always away. That’s not social media. We have a shared photo stream,” she said.
8
2. Julia Roberts
In an interview with Marie Claire magazine, Julia Roberts said that she doesn’t like social media because people get to say cruel things and stay protected by anonymity. “I just feel like if you’re really mad and want to have a fight, then put your dukes up,” she said, adding that the shield social media creates is for wimps. “There’s an anonymity that makes people feel safe to participate in hatefulness.” Julia also says she resists the urge to Google herself. “It’s kind of like cotton candy: It looks so appealing and you just can’t resist getting in there, and then you just end up with sticky fingers and it lasted an instant,” she said. “I have too much potential for collapse.” We admire her restraint!
9
1. Jennifer Lawrence
The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence agrees with Julia and also refuses to Google herself. “Oh, God, no,” she said when asked if she ever does searches for her name.”I was trying to make a point to my friend that’s an actress. She was getting upset about these red carpet pictures. I typed in ‘Jennifer Lawrence fat and ugly,’ just to make a point. It’s like in Mean Girls, when she’s like, ‘If somebody is saying something bad about you, do you want to hear it?’ And she’s like, ‘No.’ She’s absolutely right. You don’t want to hear it. I’m a one-year-clean no Googler.” Jennifer also stays away from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest.