As soon as Vanity Fair unveiled its incredible July cover featuring a glamorous Jessica Lange lookalike known as Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce), the Internet exploded with reactions. Congratulatory tweets flew, along with some unfortunate transphobic remarks and notable media misgenderings.
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) June 1, 2015
I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me.
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) June 1, 2015
But what no one could have possibly predicted is Caitlyn Jenner’s brand-new Twitter account breaking the official record for most Twitter followers ever in the shortest amount of time—a record previously held by none other than the president of the United States.
When Barack Obama created the @POTUS account on May 18 with a self-effacing joke about finally being allowed to have his own Twitter handle, he quickly broke the existing record then held by actor Robert Downey Jr., who collected a million followers in about 23 hours. According to Guinness World Records, the @POTUS account reached a million followers in less than five hours.
Caitlyn Jenner just destroyed that record, amassing a million Twitter followers in just four hours.
Jenner’s first tweet posted at 12:17 this afternoon ET, shortly after the Vanity Fair issue was announced with an accompanying video showing Jenner posing in silky lingerie while talking about moving into womanhood.
By 4:21pm., Jenner had hit one million, smashing the previous record.
Another Jenner world record, and at 65? Who'da thought! Humbled & honored to have reached 1M followers in 4 hrs. Thank you for your support.
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) June 1, 2015
Will Caitlyn Jenner beat the record for most total Twitter followers? That remains to be seen. That record is held by pop star Katy Perry, who has 70.5 million followers.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to provide additional clarity and context.
Illustration by Max Fleishman