Chlöe Bailey is distancing herself from social media in order to be in a better place, much like some of her pop contemporaries (see: Selena Gomez and Billie Eilish).
The “In Pieces” singer appeared on The Tamron Hall Show to discuss why she ultimately made the decision to take a step back from several apps on her phone, and shared some insight on the backlash she received for a particularly NSFW scene she did while starring in Swarm.
“For a minute, I removed all socials off my phone and I just turned it over to my team. Of course I’d make the content, I’d come up with the captions and I would just send it to them, but I got rid of my social media because I realized the things people were saying,” Bailey shared.
She continued, “The negative things people were saying about me were affecting me, and I noticed if I’d go out on stage or ‘if I do this people are gonna say this,’ and I realized that I was changing myself for other people and their opinions and what they were accusing me of originally, which was not being myself and being forced, that’s what I was tuning into because I was so occupied with what people thought about me, but the second I deleted the apps off my phone, I was mentally so much clearer because you’re doing what makes you happy.”
The 24-year-old’s lack of social media came in handy in recent weeks. Following the premiere of Amazon Prime’s Swarm — in which Bailey stars as Marissa, who has an explicit sex scene with one of the show’s characters — she received backlash that went largely unnoticed by her.
“Anything negative, I did not see. So in turn, I was just proud as the work I did as an actress,” Bailey told Hall, noting that she felt even more proud of the work she did when fellow actress Taraji P. Henson praised her work on the series.
Watch Chlöe talk about her relationship with social media in the videos below.