A Tom Cruise lookalike has been kicked off Instagram for 'pretending to be someone', destroying his business in the process.
Jerome LeBlanc, 33, from Quebec, Canada, who resides in San Diego, California was removed from the social media platform for breaking one of the apps 'community guidelines' which forbid people from impersonating others.
Instagram rules state: 'Creating an account to impersonate someone is against the Community Guidelines and could result in the removal of your account.'
The app further advises: 'Don't pretend to be the real individual or brand. This includes: Speaking in the voice or portraying yourself as the individual, brand, or organization. Misrepresenting your relationship to the individual, brand, or organization.'
Jerome LeBlanc, 33, built up his Tom Cruise lookalike business over 10 years but has now been kicked off Instagram
LeBlanc impersonates the real Tom Cruise and his character Maverick, pictured, from the 1986 film Top Gun
LeBlanc, who blessed with good looks appears uncannily like the real Tom Cruise, had been able to find work impersonating the Top Gun actor and built up his Instagram following over the course of six years.
Having built up more than 30,000 followers, his sudden removal from Instagram led to a sharp drop in business.
'It was a pretty big blow for someone self employed like me to lose an account that brought me so much business,' LeBlanc tells DailyMail.com.
LeBlanc was first banned from the platform in June 2021. He appealed and was reinstated before being stuck off for good weeks later.
Instagram kicked LeBlanc off twice for 'impersonation' and breaching the app's Community Guidelines. He is pictured during a meet and greet with fans in 2020
LeBlanc often makes in-person appearances at military-themed events
'I tried appealing the disabling of my account - explaining I'm impersonating a fictional character, but no luck. They stated "I was pretending to be someone, and my name did not match the account." Of course I wasn't pretending to be anyone, I was impersonating a fictional character.'
LeBlanc set about providing Instagram documents that would hopefully see the company which is owned by Facebook reconsider. LeBlanc supplied them with information including a business license showing that owned a lookalike business, but the decision was a
