Celebrity Instagram feeds are carefully curated. Movie stars share premieres and campaigns, athletes post victories and training sessions, and musicians fill their grids with releases, performances, and polished glimpses behind the scenes.
But posting is only one part of Instagram activity.
What celebrities like, who they start following, and which accounts repeatedly catch their attention can offer a completely different view of how they use the platform. One interaction rarely means much on its own, but patterns can be surprisingly revealing – especially when they stretch beyond what you would expect from someone’s public persona.
Using an Instagram activity tracker, we looked at the public activity of 10 major names across sports, music, film, and fashion. Some stayed remarkably close to their professional worlds. Others wandered into unexpected corners of Instagram.
Here’s what caught our attention.
LeBron James: Sneakers, Basketball and Business
If you had to guess what fills LeBron James’ Instagram world, basketball would be an obvious answer. And you wouldn’t be wrong – but it isn’t the whole story.
A look at LeBron James’ activity reveals a mix of basketball culture, sneakers, business, and people already closely connected to his world. Sneaker News appears prominently among the accounts receiving his attention, alongside his own LeBron James Family Foundation and fellow NBA legend Carmelo Anthony.
Then there’s Lobos 1707, the tequila brand in which James is an investor. Its presence alongside basketball and sneaker accounts makes his activity feel less random and more like an extension of the different worlds surrounding his career.
In other words, LeBron’s Instagram interests don’t wander very far from LeBron himself: basketball, sneaker culture, business ventures, and long-standing connections all coexist in the same feed.
Sneakers, basketball, business and familiar faces: LeBron’s likes stay close to his world
Ariana Grande: Broadway, Fashion and the Creative People Behind the Scenes
Ariana Grande’s public feed naturally revolves around music, performances, fashion and major projects. Her activity, however, puts some of the people behind those worlds in the spotlight.
Looking at what Ariana Grande likes, names such as celebrity stylist Law Roach and photographer Capri Hakeem appear among accounts receiving repeated attention. Emilie Goldblum also stands out.
Rather than looking like a list of the world’s biggest pop stars, Ariana’s activity feels more like a creative network: fashion, photography, entertainment and theater all overlap.
Her following activity was also noticeably more fluid than that of several other celebrities we examined. That makes her account interesting not because of one dramatic follow or unfollow, but because the circle around it appears to change frequently.
For anyone using an Instagram follow tracker, that kind of movement can be more revealing than simply checking the latest posts. Ariana’s grid shows the finished product; her activity offers glimpses of the wider creative ecosystem around it.
Beyond pop stars: Ariana’s activity puts stylists, photographers and other creative figures in the mix
Drake: A Global Superstar With a Very Toronto Feed
Drake may be one of the most internationally recognizable artists on Instagram, but his recent activity has a distinctly local flavor.
Among the accounts appearing in Drake’s activity are Vaughan Alexander, BOB JACK and TorontoRappers.com, alongside other music and nightlife-related profiles.
TorontoRappers.com is the detail that makes the pattern particularly fun. For an artist whose relationship with his hometown has always been central to his identity, seeing Toronto culture appear among his public interactions feels almost inevitable.
His account was also relatively quiet compared with some of the others we looked at. That actually makes the pattern easier to see: rather than a huge cloud of celebrity interactions, the visible activity remains concentrated around hip-hop, music and Toronto culture.
The superstar may be global. His scrolling habits still seem to remember where home is.
Caitlin Clark: Basketball Meets Ice Spice
Caitlin Clark’s activity begins exactly where you’d expect: basketball and connections to the Iowa community remain clearly visible.
Then the recent follows get more interesting.
Among the names appearing in Caitlin Clark’s activity are Justin Timberlake and Ice Spice. She also followed @kelcebrothers, a Jason and Travis Kelce fan account.
Suddenly, the picture becomes much broader than women’s basketball.
It’s a small but entertaining example of how the social world around a modern sports star extends into mainstream celebrity culture. Athletes at Clark’s level don’t exist in a separate sports-only ecosystem anymore: music, entertainment, the NFL and internet culture all overlap.
From basketball to Ice Spice: Caitlin Clark’s recent follows cross straight into pop culture
Anya Taylor-Joy: Furiosa Never Really Left the Feed
Some celebrity activity reveals an unexpected interest. Anya Taylor-Joy’s does almost the opposite – and that’s what makes it interesting.
Among what Anya Taylor-Joy likes, Warner Bros. UK and the Mad Max: Furiosa account stand out. Taylor-Joy starred as Furiosa in the 2024 film, so the connection between her work and her Instagram activity could hardly be clearer.
Her recent follows also stay within a creative and entertainment-heavy circle, with names including Susie Cave, Luke Gilford and Elsa Pataky.
Instead of revealing a completely separate Instagram persona, her activity suggests that the movie and creative worlds surrounding her career continue into what she interacts with publicly.
Sometimes the interesting discovery is that the celebrity really does scroll in character.
Nicki Minaj: The Barbz Aren’t Just Watching Her
Nicki Minaj has one of the most recognizable fan communities in pop culture, and her Instagram activity suggests that relationship isn’t entirely one-directional.
Several fan accounts appear prominently among Nicki Minaj’s recent likes, including @believenicki, @onikasleezy and @thenickiminajlegacy.
That’s much more interesting than simply discovering that a musician likes other musicians.
The Barbz have built an enormous online ecosystem around Nicki, producing edits, updates, archive content and fan discussions. Her own engagement with those accounts shows how the boundary between celebrity and fandom can become surprisingly porous on Instagram.
An Instagram like tracker can make patterns like this easier to spot. One fan-page like might be random. When several fan accounts repeatedly appear, the relationship between an artist and their online community becomes much more visible.
The Barbz aren’t shouting into the void: Nicki’s own fan community appears throughout her likes
Bella Hadid: Much More Than a Fashion Bubble
Bella Hadid’s public image is inseparable from fashion, so a feed filled entirely with models, designers and luxury brands wouldn’t be particularly surprising.
Her activity is more eclectic than that.
Recent accounts appearing in Bella Hadid’s activity include Sinéad Burke, the LymeLight Foundation and a variety of smaller creative and personal profiles. Instead of looking like a directory of famous fashion names, the mix feels broad and exploratory.
That distinction is important. Celebrity feeds are often highly polished representations of a professional identity. Likes and follows don’t necessarily follow the same rules.
Hadid’s activity still reflects fashion and creative culture, but it also moves into organizations and less obvious accounts that wouldn’t necessarily appear on her public grid.
Blake Lively: Apparently, She Really Likes Design
Blake Lively may be best known as an actor, but her Instagram activity could easily belong to someone building an elaborate design mood board.
Fashion is there, of course. But what Blake Lively likes and follows also stretches into interiors, craftsmanship, art and creative businesses.
Recent additions included BODE and Perte D’Ego, but also artist Thomas Deininger and Melody Jane Dolls’ Houses. Her own Blake Brown Beauty brand appears in the mix as well.
It’s an oddly specific combination – and that’s precisely why it’s interesting.
Rather than simply telling us “Blake Lively likes fashion,” her activity suggests a broader visual interest in objects, design and craftsmanship. Even among celebrities, sometimes the best discoveries are the ones that feel surprisingly ordinary: someone famous scrolling through things they simply find beautiful.
Fashion, art and miniature houses: Blake Lively’s feed looks increasingly like a creative mood board
A$AP Rocky: Quietly Cleaning Up His Feed
A$AP Rocky’s activity provides one of the clearest contrasts in the group.
His likes stay close to music and hip-hop culture, with accounts such as Pretty Tony among those receiving repeated attention. Nothing particularly shocking there for an artist whose identity has always moved between rap, fashion and visual culture.
The more interesting part of A$AP Rocky’s activity is his following list.
During the period we examined, Rocky removed considerably more accounts than he added. Visible unfollows included Wack 100, YOON and Sauce Walka.
That doesn’t mean there’s a story behind every unfollow. People clean up their feeds for countless reasons, and Instagram activity alone cannot tell us motivation.
But it does create an interesting contrast: Rocky continued interacting with content while becoming more selective about the accounts occupying his feed.
Rocky kept liking, but his following list was moving in the opposite direction
Aryna Sabalenka: From the Tennis Court to Hollywood
Aryna Sabalenka offers perhaps the clearest example of different celebrity worlds colliding.
Professional tennis remains visible throughout Aryna Sabalenka’s activity. Recent follows include fellow players Tommy Paul and Alexander Zverev – exactly the kind of names you might expect.
Then come Kevin Hart, Chris Hemsworth and Lily Collins.
That turns a straightforward sports feed into something much more representative of modern celebrity culture. Top athletes now share audiences, events and brand partnerships with actors, musicians and creators, and their social networks increasingly reflect that overlap.
Her wider activity also moves between fashion, lifestyle and sports-related accounts. It feels less like a tennis player’s Instagram and more like the feed of someone who happens to be both a world-class athlete and a mainstream celebrity.
Tennis meets Hollywood: Sabalenka’s recent follows jump from Tommy Paul and Alexander Zverev to Kevin Hart and Chris Hemsworth
What Celebrity Instagram Activity Actually Tells Us
Looking across all ten accounts, the most interesting part isn’t how many times someone clicked Like.
It’s the contrast.
LeBron James stays close to basketball, sneakers and business. Ariana Grande’s activity reaches into the creative professionals surrounding entertainment. Drake’s interactions retain a strong Toronto and hip-hop flavor. Caitlin Clark crosses from basketball into pop culture, while Nicki Minaj actively engages with the fandom built around her.
Bella Hadid explores a much broader social world than fashion alone. Blake Lively’s activity reveals a design streak. A$AP Rocky appears selective about who stays in his feed. Aryna Sabalenka moves easily between professional tennis and Hollywood.
Tracking recent likes on Instagram, follows and unfollows can make those patterns easier to see, but context matters. A like doesn’t prove an endorsement. A follow doesn’t prove a friendship or upcoming collaboration. And an unfollow certainly doesn’t automatically mean a feud.
The interesting part is not guessing why one action happened. It’s watching patterns emerge across many public interactions.
A celebrity’s Instagram profile tells us what they choose to publish.
Their activity tells a different story: what catches their attention when they’re the ones scrolling.