Are Alan Cumming’s ‘Celibacy Challenge’ Undies Too Risqué for Instagram?

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. 

Have you taken the #celibacychallenge ? Visit celibacychallenge.com and find out how to stop the FDA being total dicks

A photo posted by Alan Cumming (@alancummingsnaps) on Feb 26, 2015 at 5:04am PST

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. 

#EmporioArmani

A photo posted by Calvin Harris (@calvinharris) on Feb 17, 2015 at 9:39am PST

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.

NEWS: Rihanna Is Back on Instagram, World Rejoices

Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian celebrated reaching 27 million followers with a racy selfie in a thong, which has received over 760K likes. 

ETonline has reached out to Instagram for comment.

But what do you think? Are Cumming’s undies too much for Instagram? Sound off on Twitter with @ETnow.


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