Father John Misty‘s social media accounts were a rare treat. Among a sea of endless album-hawkers and famous folks letting themselves get #MadOnline, FJM’s Twitter and Instagram were pokes in the eye of both the idea of promotion and constant oversharing. Josh Tillman used the space as an extension of his troll persona, regularly posting photos of himself looking at his phone in beautiful settings and incredible situations. And now all that is gone, because Misty deleted his accounts.
Typically, when an artist all out deletes their account and squanders all of those hard-earned followers, it’s because they’ve had enough of dealing with the public. Social media offers a slim chance to break through the force-field surrounding famous people and genuinely rattle them. Occasionally, artists get overwhelmed by this and decide to take a break. But with Misty, you always have to consider that you might be being set up.
As of right now, the only clue we have is his activity leading up to the end. FJM spent the last week reposting the same in-studio video with different winking, “deep” captions. But, the reasoning behind him deleting his accounts could easily come crashing down with all the force of a devastating punchline. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s turned the media interest in him into a joke at the media’s expense.
