Bella Thorne has revealed that the public's reaction to her own nude photo release, intended to thwart a blackmailer, was more damaging than the blackmail attempt itself. Thorne, a former Disney Channel star, recounted on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast that the accusations of seeking attention and fabricating the incident "really, really broke" her.
In 2019, Thorne faced a situation where a hacker allegedly attempted to blackmail her with private nude photos. To preempt the blackmailer, Thorne decided to release the images herself via Twitter. "I just did an honest Twitter post," Thorne said. "I just kind of set it out as . . . you're not gonna keep taking this from me, so here it is."
This action, however, led to a wave of public backlash. Thorne described hearing comments such as, "Well, you did this. You are faking it. You just wanna show us your t--s. You want us so badly to see your private parts that that's why you're doing it. You want it." These sentiments, she stated, were devastating.
During this period, Thorne recalled filming an Instagram story where she appeared "completely . . . broken and so upset, just mad."
Unexpectedly, the ordeal led to Thorne's involvement with the FBI. Investigators contacted her, believing they had identified the suspect. "And then I get like a call one day, and it's the FBI, and they're like, 'Hey, you know, we've seen this thing. We think it's our guy and, like, can we come over? Can we get all the data? Can we see what this is?' And they came over to my house," Thorne said.
Thorne cooperated with the FBI for over a year, providing them with all the information she had. She believes that the screenshots she shared with investigators were crucial in identifying the suspect, as they matched his writing style and modus operandi. "So if I had not posted those screenshots . . . they wouldn't have caught him," she stated. "Or maybe they would've caught him later, but they wouldn't have had that direct source."