21 Times Celebs Failed At Using Twitter, Instagram, And Other Social Media

Using social media can be tricky, especially when it's new or unfamiliar to you. It can result in some pretty funny fails...and also some pretty embarrassing screw-ups.

Here are 21 times celebs failed at using social media, ranging from adorablly awkward to "Big yikes!":

1. In 2024, Barbra Streisand posted — and quickly deleted! — this comment on Melissa McCarthy's Instagram picture with director Adam Shankman: "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?" Some people speculated that Barbra must've thought she was sending a DM.

In a follow-up post, Barbra said that she "just wanted to pay her a compliment," but "forgot the world is reading."

Some online commenters found the moment funny, while others criticized her for asking Melissa if she took weight loss drugs as a compliment.

Melissa told TMZ, "I think Barbra is a treasure and I love her."

She also removed her original post and shared a video of herself reading a magazine with Barbra on the cover. She said, "The takeaway: Barbra Streisand knows I exist, she reached out to me, and she thought I looked good! I win the day!"

2. In 2019, Julia Roberts was reportedly one of many people who fell for a viral Instagram post. On her account, she reposted the fake message: "Everything you've ever posted becomes public from today, even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed..Instagram DOES NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHARE PHOTOS OR MESSAGES."

3. In 2020, Madonna fell for a viral meme where Twitters users jokingly claimed that people quarantined in an Italian neighborhood were all singing together. She shared a video that had been edited to make it seem like people were singing her song "I Rise."

Other singers who fell for the joke included Katy Perry, Cheryl, Shawn Mendes, and Aya Nakamura.

4. In 2015, Mia Farrow tweeted a picture of her daughter, Quincy Farrow, wishing her a happy 21st birthday. Rather than a personal photo, she used an image she found online. She seemingly forgot to crop out the search term she'd used to find it: "mia farrow and her black children."

She deleted the post and replaced it with a new one, where the picture was properly cropped.

5. In 2017, Mark Ruffalo did an Instagram Live for his fans at the Thor: Ragnarok premiere. He thought he ended the stream before going into the theater, but it actually kept broadcasting from inside his pocket. He accidentally live-leaked the first few minutes of the movie!

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2018, he said, "When I knew...First, my phone was just blowing up. Like, I was getting these texts, and I was like, 'I hope my mom's okay.' But I was like, 'I can't check my phone in the middle of the theater. That's rude, especially in my own movie.' And then someone from Disney came up — a woman — and she poked me. And she said, 'Turn off your phone!' I said, 'What? What? What?' What? What?' 'Your phone is on! Turn off your phone!' And I was like, 'My phone's not on.'" 

Watch him recount the experience of getting in trouble with Disney for the accidental livestream, starting at the 2:05 mark:

6. In a 2019 Instagram story post, Justin Bieber poked fun at the Daily Telegraph for misspelling his name. However, in the picture of his laptop screen, eagle-eyed fans noticed that his search history included his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez's Coachella outfit.

In a follow-up comments, he wrote, "It came up after my wife and I were [watching] my Coachella performance hers played right after mine because its in the related thing don’t glad she did Coachella too its great … I have [nothing] to hide I don’t know it was there I didn’t think twice and still don’t [‘cause] have [nothing] to hide...Wow Justin learn to type I hate typing on this damn iPad what I meant to say is that video of Selena singing Taki Taki came up after my wife and I watched my Coachella performance. Obviously she’s gonna be in the related category, it [literally] was the next video that played.. to fans and people who think I’m maliciously trying to start shit grow up."

7. In 2023, Keith Urban posted a cute TikTok video with his wife, Nicole Kidman, at a Taylor Swift concert. However, he failed to notice Phoebe Bridgers and Bo Burnham seemingly kissing in the background — and, therefore, accidentally hard-launched their relationship.

A few weeks later, Keith told Entertainment Tonight, "Yeah, oh, I found out. Phoebe, I'm so sorry...It felt very awkward. I felt bad. I was just digging on the concert! You never know what's gonna happen."

8. In 2019, Lena Dunham shared a screenshot of her 1.5-hour FaceTime call with her Girls costar Jemima Kirke to her Instagram story — accidentally leaking Jemima's phone number in the process.

In a few follow-up posts, Lena said, "You guys I know I accidentally put @Jemima_Jo_Kirke’s number on Instagram but plz do not call or text her she’s a mom...I was trying to be nice and made a huge mistake. I’m sorry Jemima Lolol."

9. In 2011, Charlie Sheen accidentally tweeted his phone number along with the message, "Call me bro. C."

10. In 2011, following the suggestion of an aide, UK politican Ed Balls decided to search his Twitter indirects to gauge what the conversation around him was. Rather than put in his name in the search bar, though, he accidentally tweeted it — sparking Twitter users to declare April 28th Ed Balls Day.

11. In 2019, Chrissy Tiegen accidentally posted her email address on Twitter then promptly deleted it.

However, before she could take the tweet down, some strangers tried FaceTiming her. So, she shared a video of herself and her mom answering one of the calls.

12. In 2011, Lindsay Lohan tweeted, "Hello Facebook. Yes, this is actually Lindsay. Welcome to my Facebook page!"

13. In 2014, Oprah Winfrey tweeted a keyboard smash.

14. A few weeks later, Oprah tweeted a singular pronoun.

15. In 2019, Lady Gaga pressed f to pay respects then hit "send tweet."

16. In 2013, Cher tagged herself on Twitter and told herself hi.

17. In 2018, Val Kilmer had something to say on Twitter, but didn't quite finish his thought.

18. In 2010, Martha Stewart simply tweeted a pirate's favorite letter.

19. In 2013, Martha tweeted a singular ingredient.

20. A few days later, she tweeted a keyboard smash.

21. And finally, a few days after that, Martha posted a grainy picture of a cow with no context other than the letter "L."