Source: Apega/WENN.com / WENN
Celebrity photo and video hacks are nothing new these days, but for the star who finds out that their images have been taken without their permission and either leaked or have them threatened to be leaked, it’s still very devastating.
Actress and author Bella Thorne, in attempt to take her power back when a hacker planned to release topless images of her, posted them on her own to Twitter over the weekend. She also shared a note letting everyone, including the hacker know, that they’re not getting over on her.
“Yesterday as u all know, all my s— was hacked. For the last 24 hours I have been threatened with my own nudes and I feel gross, I feel watched, I feel someone has taken something from [sic] that I only wanted one special person to see,” she wrote. “He has sent me multiple nude photos of other celebs, he won’t stop with me or them he will just keep going. For too long I let a man take advantage of me over and over and I’m f–king sick of it, I’m putting this out because it’s MY DECISION NOW U DON’T GET TO TAKE YET ANOTHER THING FROM ME.”
“I can sleep tonight better knowing I took my power back,” she added. “U can’t control my life u never will.”
When the topic of the 21-year-old former Disney star’s story came up as a topic on The View this week, Whoopi Goldberg felt Thorne could have truly protected her power had she not taken the photos at all. The 63-year-old industry vet said we’re in a time where photos end up in clouds and celebrities are hacked all of the time, so smarter decisions have to be made when it comes to taking nude images.
“Listen, if you’re famous, I don’t care how old you are, you don’t take nude pictures of yourself,” she said. “When they’re hacking you, they’re hacking all of your stuff, so whether it’s one picture or a million pictures, once you take that picture, it goes into the cloud and it’s available to any hacker who wants it. If you don’t know that by 2019, that this is an issue, I’m sorry, your age — you don’t get to do that.
Well, Bella caught wind of the panelist’s remarks, and she was hurt; so hurt that she posted a series of Instagram videos of herself in tears and wrote a note telling Whoopi her opinion was “disgusting.”
“I just want to say that me watching this interview made me feel really bad about myself,” Thorne said. “I hope you’re happy. I really do. I hope you’re so f–king happy ’cause I can only imagine all of the kids who have their shit released and then they commit suicide.”
The former Disney star was set to go on the show to promote her new book, The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray, but said she was bailing after Whoopi’s comments.
“I don’t really want to go on The View anymore because I don’t want to be beaten down by a bunch of older women for my body and my sexuality,” she said. “I’m going to cancel my interview.”
“I don’t really want you guys talking about your views to young girls because I would not want my daughter to learn that and I would never say that to her,” she added. “Shame on you, Whoopi for putting that public opinion just out there like that for every young girl to think that they’re disgusting for even taking a photo like that. Shame on you for saying if you take a sexy photo, then it basically deserves to get leaked like don’t be surprised at all and don’t feel sorry for yourself.”
Bella also wrote a note she posted that was for Whoopi, telling her that she used to be a big fan but is “so displeased and sadden [sic] by your response” to the leak.
“Ur view on this matter is honestly awful and I hope u change ur mind set as u are on a show talking to young girls.”
If you really take into account what both women had to say, I can understand where they’re coming from. As Whoopi said, we are in a time where people are having their nude/topless images and videos shared improperly and leaked all of the time. With technology become more advanced and clouds becoming more accessible, you do take a certain risk when you take risque images of yourself.
However, Bella is young, and when you come at young people, you have to come from a place of love. Understanding. They’re sensitive, and the wrong tone can make a situation like this worse. Hell, I can’t say that if I was Bella, and someone I looked up to sounded like she was telling me to know better and do better after I’d been damn near blackmailed, that I wouldn’t be somewhere crying, too. Truth is, the person collecting these photos of her, and other stars, is the one who should be getting a stern message, not the person whose images were stolen. Whoopi came off as confused and annoyed, not really compassionate. After this incident, I’m sure Bella learned on her own not to take topless photos again. She didn’t need someone, of such stature as Whoopi, to hammer the point home right now. And if Whoopi so felt the need to do so, she could have led with, “I feel sorry that this happened to Bella and happens to other young women, but…”
I say all that to say, sometimes people just need support after a tough time, not an immediate lecture. Neither woman needs to get dragged to high hell over all of this.
This situation, and both women’s comments, have sparked a very interesting conversation on Twitter, though. There are people who feel Whoopi was wrong, and there are others who feel she made a good point and Bella just can’t handle the truth. Hit the flip to see where everyone stands on this matter of taking nude photos in an age where doing so only seems to come back to bite everyone, including top stars.
SOURCE: MadameNoire.com
Article Courtesy of MadameNoire
First Picture Courtesy of Jim Spellman and Getty Images
Second Picture Courtesy of Apega, WENN, and MadameNoire
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