Nudes are contentious topic. Some people send them, some people don’t and some people think sending unsolicited nudes is a great way to pickup chicks online (see: dick pics). It’s not.
My point is that the decision to send nudey rudeys is exactly that- a decision. It’s completely reliant on individual discretion and comfort.
If you feel comfortable sending a cheeky pic to your partner, then you do you. I won’t judge you for it and the world shouldn’t either.
Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. People think they have a fundamental right to comment on the business of others especially when social media makes that business public.
But there’s an unspoken hierarchy at play when publicly dealing with controversial topics. Some actions are better than others. For example, talking about someone else’s nude pictures isn’t as bad as viewing them which isn’t as bad as being the person to leak them in the first place.
One thing that is never okay in any situation, however, is blaming the victim. Which is exactly what old mate Whoopi Goldberg just did.
Whoopi decided to weigh in on the whole Bella Thorne nude controversy and it is…something.
“If you’re famous, I don’t care how old you are. You don’t take nude pictures of yourself,” Whoopi said while discussing Bella on The View.
“Once you take that picture, it goes into the Cloud and it’s available to any hacker who wants it, and if you don’t know that in 2019 that this is an issue, I’m sorry. You don’t get to do that.”’
So…it’s Bella’s fault her nudes got released? It’s her fault some perverted selfish arsehole decided it was okay to compromise her privacy and threaten to share intimate photos without her consent?
Hell. No.
It is not Bella’s fault.
Before I go on, there’s something I need to acknowledge here: this isn’t the first time Bella Thorne has been swept up in nude photo drama. In September 2018 a bunch of racy photos were shared onto Bella’s Instagram, stirring speculation that her account had been hacked.
At the time Bella was promoting her new movie Assassination Nation, a black comedy about toxic masculinity and transphobia. A major plot point involves hacking. So when racy photos started appear on her Instagram fans were confused: was it all part of movie promo?
There’s been no clarification on this since, but in the wake of Bellas most recent nude scandal there’s been speculation thank it’s all a plot to promo her book.
There’s no way to confirm if this is the case. And honestly, it doesn’t even matter. Publicity stunt or not it doesn’t negate the fact that Whoopi’s perspective is so very wrong.
The victim should never be blamed. The age and celebrity status of a person does not make them more “deserving” of a hack. We are all human and all deserve respect.
Whoopi (and everyone) needs to respect that.
Bella has spoken out against Whoopi and she makes this point loud and clear.
“Shame on you Whoopi. Shame on you for putting that public opinion out there like that for every young girl to think that they’re disgusting for even taking a photo like that. Shame on you,” she said.
“Saying if you take a sexy photo then basically it deserves to be leaked like… don’t be surprised at all and don’t feel sorry for yourself. So if I go out to a party drinking and I want to go dancing on the dance floor… do I deserve to be raped too? ‘Cause, to me, I see those things really f**king similar, OK (sic)?”
Bella uploaded a string of videos to her social media showing her crying as she dresses the issue. She also released a brief statement (swipe below to read it):
Bella also suggested she would be cancelling an upcoming appearance on The View to protest Whoopi’s comments, writing: “I don’t really want to go on the View anymore cause I don’t really want to be beaten down by a bunch of older women for my body and my sexuality.”
“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.”