Last night, Chelsea Handler posted a topless photo on Instagram, and just as expected, the pic was removed. Although Handler’s topless pic doesn’t appear to be directly related to the “Free The Nipple” campaign, she has still successfully drawn attention to the app’s sexist Community Guidelines. As Handler succintly put it on Twitter, “If a man posts a photo of his nipples, it’s ok, but not a woman? Are we in 1825?”
Of course the former late night host wouldn’t just snap a standard selfie: Handler was mimicking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s infamous mounted shirtless photo by riding a horse topless herself. The comedian defended her photo on Twitter:
Taking this down is sexist. I have every right to show I have a better body than Putin. pic.twitter.com/SFih1Aa17x
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) October 31, 2014
As Elle notes, the post received over 11,000 likes before it disappeared. (While Instagram took down the photo after just 20 minutes, Twitter has kept the post up.) Looks like at least Handler’s followers are supportive of a woman’s right to bare boobs.
