The official Instagram account of dancehall icon Bounty Killer has been restored after a temporary ban that lasted nearly one year. The account @grunggaadzilla was last active on June 15, 2023, and was reactivated only recently. Since its restoration, the Warlord has been actively posting on the platform for the past three days.
Before the reinstatement, the outspoken deejay, known for voicing his opinions on various topical matters, sometimes deemed controversial by the platform, remained active by engaging fans using his alternate account @1unogeneral.
While the circumstances surrounding last year’s ban remain unclear, speculation suggests it may have been associated with remarks he made online regarding a supposed gender-fluid billboard campaign being rolled out across the island. However, this is not the first time the account was deactivated. In August 2022, it was also disabled after he criticized the police and government over what he perceived as their hypocritical treatment of the poor.
The incident stemmed from a verbal skirmish with the police at the St. Thomas Jerk Festival, where he rebuked the lawmen for abruptly ending the event around 12:30 am, resulting in upset partygoers because he was not allowed to perform.
“You see how the crime rate wicked a Jamaica, oonu fi make we work together, stop gwan like oonu wah be we enemy, when you see di people a try something, support it, dat mi tell oonu, the last time oonu try fi lock me up fi bad word oonu fi gweh with oonu f***ery,” he shouted before exiting the stage.
As an unwavering advocate within the dancehall genre, the Warlord stands firm in his beliefs and refuses to be silenced by those in authority. This steadfastness allegedly led to the removal of his Instagram account, which had nearly 900K followers at the time, days after the St. Thomas incident.
Prior to the St. Thomas incident, Bounty’s Instagram account was also shut down in May 2022 after he criticized the former Police Commissioner General Antony Anderson, whom he dubbed a “Big Idiot Lunatic”, for removing him from the Crime Stop ad campaign.
