American actor-singer Bella Thorne, while attending the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, has called out "inappropriate" sexualization of herself as a minor.
According to Fox News, a USA-based news outlet, Thorne claimed a man looking to get her autograph on a bunch of items only wanted her to sign "sexy" images of her -- which included one of her at 16 years old.
After being asked about the group of autograph seekers while being interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Thorne explained, "I normally don't tell them off but they offended me... "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... I said I wouldn't sign that and he took it away and then put it back in front of me again. 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," she added, reported Fox News.
Thorne stressed that she doesn't mind signing autographs for strangers, but she objected to the specific images of herself that he wanted signed.
"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... 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," she continued.
According to Fox News, the former Disney Channel star admitted she "definitely" rethinks some of those images as she's gotten older.
"Definitely, but it's just that, 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," Thorne explained.
Thorne also noted that she feels she "made it out" of child stardom pretty clean. "I also think when you're growing up, now you have boobs all of a sudden and everything's growing and become more and more intense. You start liking people and everything changes," she told the outlet, as per Fox News.
After a handful of smaller roles, Thorne launched her career with the Disney channel show 'Shake It Up' and went on to release music including the single 'Watch Me' and a couple of EPs. She also dabbled in the adult film industry with the release of "Her & Him," which she directed.
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