Instagram Deleted a Comedian’s Account #BringBackStavvyBaby
BRING BACK STAVVYBABY!
WTF Instagram? How could you delete our favorite account?
Just a few months ago, we discovered our new favorite Instagram. Stavvybaby was the must-follow account for comedian Stavros Halkias’ hilarious photos, often creative nudes or partially clothed or suggestive photos. We first became aware of Stavvybaby because of Halkias’ duet holiday-themed nudes with Matteo Lane and we loved the pics so much we gave them recognition in our 2016 year end awards for “Best Nude Instagram Shots” and believe us, the competition for that one was fierce. The Super Mario Brothers pic, (yes, we know that’s not a holiday) followed by the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s photos, are amazing.
We weren’t the only publication to spotlight Stavvybaby. Elite Daily called his account a “Body-Positive Movement” and he was one of Out Magazine’s “11 Body Positive Men Redefining Male Beauty.”
Halkias is a young fast-rising comedian who has worked with Tom Papa, Tig Notaro, Dave Attell, and is Robert Kelly’s opener and riding partner these days. We saw him kill at RoastMasters at The Stand recently and we’re big fans. In 2012, he was named Comedian of the Year in Baltimore, and just last month, Bennington featured him in their spotlight on fast-breaking comedians. All that and a physicality and boldness that made social media actually fun. It’s the kind of account that makes up for the hundreds of accounts that just plug an upcoming show or try to sell you something.
Stavvybaby had been on Instagram for about 2 years, and he had about 10,000 followers and growing when suddenly on January 21st without warning, Stavvybaby was gone. “I woke up in the morning, checked my Instagram like any social media addict, and couldn’t log in,” he told us. Some of you understand that this is a crushing event. To others, it may seem unimportant, but anyone who works on building a following knows that losing your social media account is a really big deal. All that work, all those photos, just gone. Who archives their Instagram?
At first, there was no explanation. Soon a notification came that his account had been disabled for violating Instagram’s terms, and a message that he might be able to restore his account. He filled out a form, without too much detail, assuming the disabling was an error, and he never heard back, and there’s just no way to reach anyone that can help you. There’s no customer service, there’s no email, there’s nothing, just a form.
It’s now been two weeks, so Halkias reached out again, giving more detail, and making it clear that his posts were all for comedic purposes. “Hi, I’m writing because I’m concerned about the status of my account. My account was disabled for violating the terms of use. I immediately wrote you then and am still waiting to hear back. In the meantime I wanted to provide more detail as to why I believe my account was disabled mistakenly. None of my posts have violated the terms of service. I’ve never made threats or targeted individuals. None of my posts included hate speech and though some of my posts were risque, they never included sadistic displays of violence against people or animals or sexual assault,” he said. He pointed out that he is a comedian, and that his posts are meant to be funny, but that he takes his Instagram account seriously.
It’s anyone’s guess what caused the violation, but since many of the comedic nudes also appear on Matteo Lane’s Instagram, it doesn’t seem to be a violation of nudity rules. It may have something to do with a photo that included a simulated act of love between Stavvy and a member of the animal kingdom (key word here, “simulated”) but it’s just comedy, not real and Instagram’s filters might have trouble making such distinctions. We’re confident that no animals were harmed (or pleasured) to get the photo. Since we’ve watched movies and television simulate acts of violence to animals since 1970’s Saturday morning cartoons, I think we can loosen up the reigns a bit when it comes to blowjob jokes right?
