Bella Thorne Says People Call Her ‘Controversial’ Because She’s A Woman: ‘I Haven’t Been Arrested’ I don’t do bad things.
Bella Thorne can’t understand why she’s been called “controversial.”
In an interview with The Daily Beast’s Marlowe Stern this week, the former Disney Channel “Shake It Up” star explained why it was unfair to give her that label.
“I haven’t been arrested. I don’t do bad things,” she said. “Of course I’m a woman, and that definitely plays a role.”
“If I post in a bikini it’s ‘She’s a bitch’, but if a man posts shirtless on a beach it’s ‘F*** yeah man’,” the 24-year-old continued. years. “If a man posts with a different girl every other day, it’s ‘F*** yeah, bro, keep having that pussy’, but if I’m in a three-year relationship, then I break up , then I start another three-year relationship, it’s “Wow, Bella Thorne, she’s a bitch. Look at her. “I’m like, what? I’ve been in long-term relationships all my life!”
Thorne, who identifies as pan*xual, has been in a relationship with Italian singer Benjamin Mascolo since 2019. The two announced their engagement in 2021.
In an interview with Insider last year, Thorne said she had “always” been aware of gendered double standards, especially growing up in the public eye.
“I think a lot of people say, ‘Oh Bella, you’re really trying to step out of your Disney image. You’ve gotten really sexy.'” she told music journalist Callie Ahlgrim. “And I’m just like, no, that’s called growing up. It’s called, when you saw me, I was 12 and now I’m 23.”
She added, “Imagine if you had a spotlight on your kids at home? You think it would be different? I assure you it wouldn’t be different.”
Thorne pointed to one reason she could be called controversial: her work in the adult film business. In 2019, she directed the adult film “Her and Him,” but Thorne said making the film was about ending the stigma surrounding the industry.
“I have a lot of friends in the sex work industry and when I see them suffering it’s heartbreaking,” she told The Daily Beast. “They are my friends. So as much as I can be a voice, I always try.”
She continued, “And that’s another thing where people are like, ‘Bella Thorne is controversial because she did this. OK, well now there are all these celebrities jumping on the s*x-positivity bandwagon – making vibrators and owning s*x toy brands. Now people are finally talking about it, but when I do, it’s, ‘Why is Bella Thorne doing this?’ Things are changing now, and I’m happy about that.”
Thorne, who was at SXSW recently to speak at a panel supporting leniency for cannabis offenders, also said she hopes to one day share the screen again with her ‘Shake It’ co-star. Up” Zendaya.
Before “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson made the hit HBO show, he directed the 2018 film “Assassination Nation,” which starred Thorne. Could she ever see herself playing “Euphoria”?
“I never told Sam about ‘Euphoria’,” Thorne told The Daily Beast. “But I’m here and I’m still down.”
Thorne noted how much she enjoyed watching Zendaya’s evolution.
“Going from two kids who were on a kids show and working all the time to where we are now is such a crazy difference,” Thorne said. “We also had to work against so many chances to get out of the [Disney] channel, and I’m just like, wow. Get it, we. Take it, Z.”
