Patrick J. Adams Deletes Instagram After 'Innocent' Photo of Meghan Markle 'Was Twisted Into Something Different'

Patrick J. Adams is thinking twice about his next social media post after a photo he shared of Meghan Markle caused a frenzy.

In August, Adams, who plays Mike Ross opposite Markle’s Rachel Zane on the legal drama Suits, posted an old photo of Markle playfully kissing him on the cheek while on set. “Ross and Rachel – the next generation,” he captioned the shot, referencing the famous Friends couple.

When the photo caused a stir, Adams deleted his account altogether.

“I’m not good at it, I overthink every post that I put out and the ramifications and who’ll be listening and how it’ll be received,” he told Esquire.com. “I posted this old photo I had found of Meghan and I on set. I went to bed, and woke up in the morning and realized ‘Oh, yeah. I live in a world where you can’t post things about Meghan.’ I had this onslaught of people retweeting the thing, people thinking it was a recent picture, and I just thought, ‘What the hell is going on?'”

Adams, who is married to actress Troian Bellisario, was shocked when the sweet photo of Markle, who is dating Prince Harry, quickly took on a life of its own.

“It was such an innocent moment of sentimentality that was twisted into something totally different. It made me feel like… why put myself through this?” he said. “We’re like brother and sister, it’s not like it was lurid or anything, but it just became a story that people wanted to talk about.”

 Markle, 36, has dramatically curtailed her own social media presence since her relationship with Prince Harry, who turns 33 on Friday, went public last fall. Last April she pulled the plug on her blossoming lifestyle site, The Tig. At the time, a source told PEOPLE that the closure was unrelated to her royal romance.

“The Tig has been a labor of love for Meghan,” said the source, “but it’s a full-time job. She wants to focus this season of Suits, which just starting filming and spending more time in the field on her philanthropy.”

Markle recently opened up about her boyfriend, telling Vanity Fair: “I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple. We’re two people who are really happy and in love.”

The high-profile romance hasn’t been without its challenges. Since the duo met in London through friends in July 2016, Markle’s name has been splashed all over tabloids. Although it’s territory that comes with dating one of the most famous bachelors in the world, Harry’s statement addressed the “wave of abuse and harassment” that the actress had been subjected to.

“It has its challenges, and it comes in waves — some days it can feel more challenging than others,” Markle said. “And right out of the gate it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend’s support.”

She added, “I don’t read any press. I haven’t even read press for Suits. The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise.”

Suits aired its mid-season finale on Wednesday, and the series’ 8th season is still up in the air. USA’s hit legal drama wrapped last night as the second-highest show on cable, behind Game of Thrones.