On-screen, American Pickers star Danielle Colby has been an always fun and knowledgeable complement to Mike Wolfe and their now-former co-star Frank Fritz. Off-screen, nothing changes regarding her charisma and intelligence, but fans who follow her on social media, Patreon and/or OnlyFans know that Colby also likes to put her body-positivity on display. Whether it’s scantily clad poses in colorful photos or sultry dances in video clips, the TV vet knows how to catch an eye, to say the least. Unfortunately, she also attracted the eyes of someone in charge of censorable content at Instagram, and Colby did not mince words when slamming the site for allegedly removing one of her videos and flatting her for solicitation.
Given that Danielle Colby has an eye for all things vintage and retro, it’s totally understandable that she has long embraced burlesque dancing as a way of expressing her sexuality and agility. And even though she’s shared video clips featuring such performances on Instagram in the past, it appears a clip from Halloween 2021 was too much for the social media site’s Community Guidelines, and Colby took hard aim at Instagram after the video was excised. In her words:
I swear, every day it’s something. This 10 second video clip got me flagged for ‘SOLICITATION’!!! Jfc. This is a small clip of a burlesque routine that I did for Halloween. This is a video from OCTOBER. It’s now March, damn near April. The video in question is one of me in a burlesque costume that is the same size as a bikini, which is perfectly acceptable on IG/FB mind you, but because my pasties aren’t connected like a bra? Is that the problem?
To be sure, Danielle Colby is far from the first person (especially those of the female variety) to angrily imply that Instagram is guilty of double standards when it comes to what’s allowed and what isn’t when it comes to partial nudity and the like, regardless of if the content is sexually motivated or not. Had she been wearing a traditional bikini in the video, would she never have been flagged for it? The American Pickers star had more questions, though, and she continued by saying:
Is the problem that I told my fans they could find the full length video, that I’m NOT ALLOWED to post here, on a different site? Or is just because of the militant policing of fat, femme, and queer bodies, especially those of color and ESPECIALLY those in or tangential to [sex work]??? For so many people, this is how they’re able to pay their mortgages, afford childcare, have the ability to buy life-saving medications, or just have the money they need for the quality of life they want. The brutalization of sex workers and those sex-work adjacent needs to stop. That means legally, monetarily, spiritually, physically, emotionally and in any other way you can imagine.
For what it’s worth, the latter part of Danielle Colby’s post speaks to how Instagram’s guidelines affect a wide swath of sex workers and others who rely on IG for promotional needs, as opposed to merely complaining about her own video getting squashed. It probably speaks to the sheer number of posts being spot-checked that the October video is only now getting flagged, but if it went that long without garnering any complaints (assumedly), then cutting it now could be viewed as arbitrary at best, especially since Colby’s IG feed features other pics and videos that are arguably more illicit than anything burlesque-themed.
In fact, while the 10-second clip may have been removed, fans can actually still find her post with a 30-second video preview from the same performance, as seen below:
It remains to be seen whether anything further comes from this, but you can bet that Danielle Colby won't stop promoting her other endaeavors on social media regardless of what gets sniped in the meantime. As well, she's always game to cross-promote her daughter Memphis Colby's highly lucrative OnlyFans profile. And when American Pickers comes back to History with new episodes, she'll likely promote those, too.
Outside of all things burlesque and Instagram, American Pickers’ Danielle Colby & Co. are currently in the midst of a Season 23 hiatus on History, with its most recent season having kicked off in January. This season was produced without the involvement of former star Frank Fritz, who’d previously taken a break from filming for what were deemed at the time to be medical reasons. Things got hectic after that as it was revealed Fritz would not be returning to the show at all, with Mike Wolfe alleging his former co-star leaned too heavily into the pain management process, and that it caused issues.
Colby backed that idea up with her own comments after Fritz’s exit was confirmed, though Fritz himself claimed at the time to have been sober and healthier after dropping 65 pounds. Despite any supposed niceties that were shared by Wolfe in the aftermath, the move clearly stung Fritz, and fans have been waiting to see if anything else happens there. For now, I’d just say probably don’t expect to see Fritz showing up in any of Danielle Colby’s burlesque performances or OnlyFans videos.
Older repeats of American Pickers can be streamed with a Peacock subscription, and be sure to check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
