Actor Pierce Brosnan is one of 10 celebrities followed on Instagram by the CIA, it has been revealed.

The other stars are Melissa McCarthy, Claire Danes, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner, Bryan Cranston, Ben Affleck and Tom Hanks.

In addition, the American intelligence agency also follows the official 007 page.

The news caused a stir in the US yesterday when it was disclosed online with conspiracy theorists immediately thinking it was some dastardly plot.

Others thought the CIA might be keeping tabs on liberal or left-wing celebrities just as the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover did in the 1940s and 1950s.

But it turns out the explanation is rather more innocent. The official Instagram account of the Central Intelligence Agency follows actors who have portrayed secret agents in the past.

In total, the account follows 35 accounts but most are government organisations such as the US Army, the National Security Agency or the Department of the Interior.

But A-listers who have had roles in the intelligence community also appear — from Brosnan who played James Bond —  to Reynolds who starred in Safe House and McCarthy in the comedy Spy.

Danes was bipolar spook Carrie Mathison in all eight series of Homeland while Chastain played an agent in Zero Dark Thirty.

Ben Affleck and Bryan Cranston played CIA agents in the Oscar-winning Argo which the former also directed. Garner played an agent in the TV series Alias. Hanks played a lawyer in Bridge of Spies.

The CIA launched its account in April 2019 and now has 394,000 followers.

“Since many of our employees’ identities cannot be revealed, the public comes to know CIA and our officers through their spy movie and television show fictional counterparts — often more ‘reel’ than ‘real,’” said CIA spokesperson Nicole de Haay.

“We like to play with this ‘Reel vs Real’ theme to explain how our global mission differs from big and small screen portrayals.”

Not everyone was impressed. One Twitter user described the CIA as “a self-absorbed teenager”.