Bella Thorne says people call her 'controversial' because she's a woman: 'I haven't been arrested. I'm not doing bad things.'
Bella Thorne doesn't understand why she's labeled as "controversial."
In an interview with The Daily Beast's Marlowe Stern this week, the former star of the Disney Channel hit "Shake It Up" sounded off on why that label is unfair to be put on her.
"I haven't been arrested. I'm not doing bad things," she said. "Of course I am a woman, and that definitely plays a part in it."
"If I post in a bikini, it's 'She's a slut,' but if a man posts shirtless on a beach, it's 'F*** yeah, bro,'" the 24-year-old continued. "If a man posts with a different girl every other day, it's 'F*** yeah, bro, keep getting that pussy,' but if I'm in a three-year relationship, and then break up, and then get into another three-year relationship, it's 'Wow, Bella Thorne, she's a ho. Look at her.' I'm like, what? I've been in long-term relationships my whole life!"
Thorne, who identifies as pans*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 has "always" been aware of s*xist double standards, especially growing up in the public eye.
"I think a lot of people say, 'Oh Bella, you're trying to really break out of your Disney image. You went really s*xy. You try to make everyone see how s*xy you are and be s*xual,'" she told music reporter Callie Ahlgrim. "And I'm just like, no, it'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 that would be any different? I assure you, it would not be any different."
Thorne did point out one reason why she might be labeled controversial: her work in the adult film business. In 2019, she directed the adult film "Her & Him," but Thorne said making that movie was to stop the stigma surrounding the industry.
"I have a lot of friends in the s*x-work industry and when I see them go through pain, it's heartbreaking," she told The Daily Beast. "These are my friends. So, as much as I can be a voice, I'm always trying."
She continued: "And it's another thing where people are like, 'Bella Thorne is controversial because she did this.' OK, well now there are all these celebrities hopping on the s*x-positivity train — making vibrators and owning s*x-toy brands. Now people are finally talking about it, but when I do it it's, 'Why is Bella Thorne doing this?' Things are changing now, and I'm happy about it."
Thorne, who was recently at SXSW to speak on a panel supporting clemency for cannabis offenders, also said she hopes to one day share the screen again with her "Shake It Up" costar Zendaya.
Before "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson made the hit HBO show he directed the 2018 movie "Assassination Nation," which starred Thorne. Could she ever see herself going on "Euphoria"?
"I've never talked to Sam about 'Euphoria,'" Thorne told The Daily Beast. "But I'm here and I'm always down."
Thorne noted how much she's loved watching Zendaya's evolution.
"Going from two kids who were just acting 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 odds coming off of the [Disney] channel, and I'm just like, wow. Get it, us. Get it, Z."
