James Reid shut down breakup rumors with Issa Pressman as he clarified what really happened when they “unfollowed” each other on Instagram.
In an interview shared by GMA on Nov. 15, the celebrity entrepreneur explained that they were just trying out a certain feature on the online platform, which involved blocking someone on a user’s following list.
“I was actually… do you ever have that thing where suddenly you’re unfollowing someone? Then, she told me that if someone blocks you and unblocks you, you won’t know. Automatically, you’re unfollowing… I tried it,” he explained.
“But then, afterwards, we forgot to follow back, so we stayed unfollowed. Then, my team was calling me, ‘What happened? What happened?’ I said, ‘Why?’ ‘It’s all over the news.’ I’m like, ‘What is?'” James recalled.
The Careless Music co-founder said it made him wonder how social media users noticed they were no longer in each other’s following lists. “I wondered, ‘How did they know that I went down one follower?’ I’m impressed at how the fans are really, you know, they stay updated with everything,” he said.
James stressed that everything’s “been going on really well” between him and Issa.
The two made the rounds online on Saturday, Nov. 11 after eagle-eyed Internet users found that they were no longer following each other on Instagram. Some fans commented on James’ IG posts to ask what happened between them. James and Issa went back to being IG mutuals the next day, Nov. 12.
Issa and James sparked dating rumors last March, when they shared photos of each other during Harry Styles’ Love on Tour concert in Manila. The photos included a mirror selfie as they held each other’s hands.
But their “soft launch” got mixed reactions, as Issa had been accused of being a third party during James’s relationship with Nadine Lustre. James and Nadine announced their breakup in January 2020, but said it actually happened in November 2019.
Days later, James took to Twitter and Instagram Story to address criticisms against Issa, saying past rumors about them “are just that, rumors.”
Without explicitly confirming nor denying their relationship, James said he felt the need to speak up “now” because “this is the start of something beautiful,” which he said he won’t let anyone take away from him.
“All you need to know from me,” he said, “is that [I’m] the happiest I’ve ever been,” he said.
Nadine is now in a relationship with French businessman Christophe Bariou.
