Apoorva Mukhija wants to retire from content creation, says, "don’t know who commercialised this industry so much"

Apoorva Mukhija, better known online as The Rebel Kid, says she’s ready to move on from content creation. In a candid new interview with SCREEN, the 24-year-old influencer opened up about the changing nature of social media, the loss of authenticity in the creator economy, and her growing disinterest in what she calls “the performance of relevance.”

“I have spent so many years without putting my vulnerable side on social media,” she said. “I don’t think the internet is a place where you should be sharing your feelings, emotions, or deepest darkest secrets. My job is to entertain, and I do that. If I don’t, then I make you hate me, which turns into your entertainment, so I’m doing my role. I don’t use social media as a diary or journal, but as a way of entertaining people.”

Apoorva, who first went viral for her outspoken and unfiltered style, gained a reputation as one of India’s most fearless Gen Z voices. But her rise also came with controversy — most recently after her appearance on India’s Got Latent, which stirred intense online backlash. Since then, she admits she has started taking a step back.

“When we started, this wasn’t commercial,” she explained. “We all began this job as something fun to do, and now people call it an industry. It’s just like talking to your camera — how did we get here? You have to fight to stay relevant, be seen everywhere, get papped, attend events, be friends with a network. Who came up with all this? I don’t know who commercialised this industry so much. I was never taking this so seriously, and now suddenly everybody is asking me to do things a certain way. I’m just a girl who wants to talk to a camera; it’s not that deep.”

The creator, who recently appeared on Karan Johar’s reality show Traitors, also shared that she’s posting less than ever before — deliberately dialing down the visibility that once defined her brand.

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“I’ve started posting very little about my personal life,” she said. “Earlier, I used to post 20 stories, but I don’t do that anymore. Now, I directly text people. I don’t post with my friends or when I go partying, because I don’t want to hear that I’m always partying. I party because I can, I have that privilege. I’m still in my college mindset; I’m just 24.”

As for what comes next, Apoorva hinted that her time as a content creator might be coming to an end. “I want to retire from content creation,” she admitted. “I’ve been doing it for too long. I’m working on something else. If it pans out, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll always be doing content.”

Whether she truly quits or simply reinvents herself, The Rebel Kid’s reflections capture a rare moment of honesty in an increasingly performative digital world.