Within Temptation lose 20,000 Instagram followers due to a “Pride” post

As Sharon den Adel, frontwoman of the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, recently revealed in an interview with the German radio station “Radio Bob!”, the band has lost 20,000 followers on their Instagram account after speaking out in favour of the Pride movement. The topic came up after the interviewer congratulated the frontwoman on Within Temptation‘s 400,000 Instagram followers:

“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure if I should say this on radio, but I was a bit shocked of our own audience in a way, because we reached actually 4,2 [420,000] and we lost a two [20,000], because we made an announcement, like, okay, just a post about Pride in the Netherlands. And we lost 0,2 just by one post saying equality stands for… You know. And I don’t care about losing those, but… […] It was a shock to me, like… So people… So many people were appalled by that message. It’s like… What is the world going to?” – Sharon den Adel

However, Sharon den Adel also sees it as a positive thing that 20,000 Instagram followers turned their backs on Within Temptation after the band advocated for the acceptance and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in early August 2024:

“It’s also reflecting how people are thinking about how things are changing in society sometimes by things you post. It’s like… Wow, didn’t see this coming. But anyway, anyway, I’m not regretting it at all. So I’m really happy that it happened because it just cleans up the database. […] Who cannot stand for equality for everyone? It’s like… Come on!” – Sharon den Adel

A screenshot of the Instagram post in question can be seen below: