Former Disney star Bella Thorne just explained her reasons for refusing to sign photos of her teenage self posed in a suggestive manner.
The 25-year-old actress spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the incident while promoting her new project, “Divinity.” Thorne explained how she normally accommodates fan requests but drew the line at signing these particular “sexy” photos.
“I normally don’t tell [fans] off but they offended me,” the “Shake It Up” alum explained.
“It was this guy and he was shoving photos in front of me and I looked away for a second and looked back and there was a photo of me from my GQ magazine cover. It’s super sexy and my butt is out and I’m wearing lingerie and I’m topless.”
She said she told the fan she wouldn’t sign that image, but he persisted. “I said, ‘No, I’m not signing that.’ He pulled out another photo of a magazine with another sexy image. He was like, ‘Come on, Bella. Sign it for me.’ I didn’t like it. It was inappropriate.”
Thorne said some of the images came from a Candies brand photo shoot from when she was a teenager, which is what made her turn him down.
“There was some stuff there from a Candies campaign that I did when I was 16 and it was clear that he wanted me to sign things that were viewed as sexy and even underage and I was like, ‘Give me something else.’ He said, ‘Aren’t they all sexy?’ No, enough is enough,” she said. “But I get it, they have to make money and everyone has a job so I get that. It was just that I was under 18 and it’s inappropriate.”
When asked if she regretted posing for the images, Thorne said, “I wouldn’t do that now. You also can’t spend your time trying to take back these moments or moments that you were too sexy or think that being a woman is only this or that.”
She went on to describe how she got through adolescence with a pretty “clean” reputation. “I could’ve done so many worse things as so many teenagers do,” Thorne told THR. “I didn’t have really rough issues with mental [health] or get stuck in a really dark place where you don’t want to get out of bed. I mean, I’ve definitely been there but I have been pretty lucky.”
Thorne identifies as pansexual and was famously part of a polyamorous relationship with musician Mod Sun and media personality Tana Mongeau for two years. The actress went public with allegations of being sexually abused as a child until she was a teenager, though she never named her accuser.
She is also a prominent OnlyFans figure and said she posts provocative photos and videos of herself on the platform to normalize and de-stigmatize “sex work.”
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