Bella Thorne fought back against an alleged blackmailer by releasing her own nude photos in 2019 — but the former Disney star said it was the flood of victim-blaming accusations that ultimately "really, really broke" her.
The former Disney Channel star found herself at the center of a headline-making scandal when she accused a hacker of attempting to blackmail her with private nude photos. Thorne ultimately beat the alleged extortionist to the punch by releasing the images herself.
"I just did an honest Twitter post," Thorne recalled during an appearance on "Call Her Daddy." "I just kind of set it out as ... you're not gonna keep taking this from me, so here it is."
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Thorne said she shared the images to take control of the situation before the alleged blackmailer could release them. The decision sparked a wave of backlash that the "Shake It Up" star said left her emotionally devastated.
"And you know, I think the worst part of that was people saying, '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.' And that to me, like, really broke me then. That like, really, really broke me," Thorne told host Alexandra Cooper.
The now 28-year-old actress recalled filming an Instagram story where she was "completely ... broken and so upset, just mad."
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The ordeal eventually took an unexpected turn when Thorne said she received a call from the FBI.
"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 recalled. "So now I have like a house full of FBI, which is like the craziest thing."
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Thorne said she worked closely with the FBI for more than a year, sharing all the information she had. She said investigators ultimately identified the suspect by matching his writing style.
"So if I had not posted those screenshots ... they wouldn't have caught him," she said. "Or maybe they would've caught him later, but they wouldn't have had that direct source."
She said sharing the screenshots ultimately helped investigators build their case.
"And that's how they knew, is because of the screenshots," Thorne added. "Because it's his exact writing, and they're like, 'This is his MO. It's the same guy, it has to be.'"
