Update: Instagram has since apologized for deleting the actor's photo.
On Thursday, Alan Cumming, The Good Wife actor and current star opposite of Sienna Miller in Cabaret, became the latest celeb Instagram user to have his image deleted from the social media platform.
The image at hand? A close-up shot of Cumming in a red pair of underwear branded with a closed lock -- the symbol of the actor and GLAAD’s cheeky Celibacy Challenge, which is raising awareness of FDA’s restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
Cumming’s underwear selfie comes just a week after Calvin Harris posted bulgy images of himself in an Emporio Armani underwear campaign. That single Instagram became the DJ’s most popular upload with 131K likes.
While Cumming’s photo has since been added back to his account, it was initially deleted without explanation prompting the actor to re-post the image several more times, calling out the platform. “Hey @Instagram I'd like more of an explanation about why this photo was just removed by you,” Cumming wrote in the caption. “Was it the photo itself or the language I used in the text? Either way I find it very surprising and rather alarming.”
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This is not the first time a celeb has been subject to Instagram’s no “nudity or mature content” clause, which states that accounts violating the rule will be disabled. Chelsea Handler protested when Instagram deleted her topless parody of Russian President Vladmir Putin riding horseback. The image was deleted multiple times and the comedian has since posted more topless pics, all of which have been removed.
And in May of last year, Rihanna’s account was briefly suspended. While a reason wasn’t stated for the account’s disappearance, it did come shortly after the singer posted a racy magazine spread.
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Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian celebrated reaching 27 million followers with a racy selfie in a thong, which has received over 760K likes.
Update: Instagram issued the following statement when asked about Cumming's Instagram account.
"When our team processes reports from other members of the Instagram community, we occasionally make a mistake. In this case, we wrongly removed content and worked to rectify the error as soon as we were notified. We apologize for any convenience."
But what do you think? Are Cumming’s undies too much for Instagram? Sound off on Twitter with @ETnow.