Bella Thorne loves to make a statement. While she started out as the bright-faced
CeCe Jones on Disney Channel's Shake It Up, she has since proven she's not afraid of getting into
a little hot water. From Instagram to OnlyFans, these are some of Bella's biggest controversies.
"I really am who I am and my fans love that about me."
Bella Thorne may have made a name for herself as a Disney Channel star,
but she was reluctant to conform to the network's typical brand.
Much like her Shake It Up co-star Zendaya , the actor rebelled against the strict rules,
and had no problems calling out unfair policies. This was never more evident than when Thorne
was 14 years old, and — as she claims — Disney allegedly almost fired her over a bikini pic.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the incident occurred back in the golden age
of nasty celebrity bloggers — and, as the king of dragging stars, Perez Hilton commented in 2011,
"[I would] really be more comfortable if she would just cover up. Excuse us, Bella? WHERE IS YOUR
MOTHER??? Does she know you own this outfit? Please don't tell us she bought it for you??"
"They said, 'You're lucky that Bella has
such a fanbase that we can't afford to fire her at this moment in time."
According to Thorne, her mom did, in fact, pick the swimsuit out for her. Hilton's post
reportedly made waves, during which Thorne claimed Disney Channel attempted to let her
go. But a spokesperson for the network said they merely chatted with the actor
about whether she wanted to move forward with the company's direction, or not.
In 2017, Thorne landed on the Freeform network — a Disney affiliate geared towards teens and young
adults. And her series, Famous In Love, ran for two seasons before its controversial cancellation.
"'Cuz everything's just so easy for me."
When the series was scrapped over an alleged lack of funding from Hulu,
The Hollywood Reporter claimed production members were relieved, largely because
Thorne was reportedly causing problems on set by clashing with showrunner Marlene King, who denied
the claims. Thorne later spilled the real tea, telling the Los Angeles Times that the network
considered her a loose cannon, and was afraid her outspoken commentary would hit the press.
Thorne reportedly didn't even know her show was being canceled. On Twitter,
she admitted that she discovered the news online just like everyone else.
Thorne reportedly brought new meaning to the phrase keeping it in the family. The star
made headlines when she was romantically linked to her brother's ex-girlfriend,
who is coincidentally also named Bella.
According to J-14, the whole thing played out on Snapchat in 2016. Thorne had recently split from
her boyfriend Gregg Sulkin after about a year of dating and posted some steamy snaps kissing
Bella Pendergast, who previously dated her brother Remy Thorne. Sure, the pair are noted BFFs,
but was there something more? Thorne posted on Twitter in August of that year,
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SOULMATE. So lucky to have you baby."
Thorne came out around the same time that she was romantically linked to her brother's ex in 2016.
But rather than make a huge splash, she did it in the most nonchalant way ever.
When a fan asked on Twitter if she was bi, Thorne replied with a very casual, quote,
"yes." But the news didn't just send the tabloids into a frenzy — it apparently also impacted the
former Disney star's career. In an interview with the Gay Times, Thorne revealed that coming out
caused her to lose roles and that it affected the way she was treated by industry pros. She said,
"There were a few places on the acting side that were very negative about it. There was
someone who, right after I came out, canceled my audition. You can just tell by the way that
people act differently around you, the way they treat you differently, the way that they look at
you or the way that they tiptoe around certain subjects because they're walking on eggshells."
Thorne later redefined her orientation, claiming in a 2019 interview with Good Morning America that
she was pan, and that her romantic preferences are not limited to any gender identity.
"Doesn't have to be a girl or a guy or,
y'know, a he, a she, a they, a this, or that. It's literally, you like personality."
Thorne made headlines yet again in 2018 when she entered an unconventional relationship
with a controversial YouTube star; forming a throuple — or, three-person couple — with
musician Mod Sun and vlogger Tana Mongeau . According to the Los Angeles Times,
the actress regularly posted photos of herself kissing both Mongeau and Mod Sun, and the Gay
Times described their three-way relationship as, quote, "open." Thorne told the outlet,
"I don't think anybody will really understand the bonds that I share with Mod or Tana. Yeah,
we joke around about poly, but we aren't in the sense that we don't put a word,
a box or label too many things. It is what it is."
"I was dating Tana and Bella at the same time."
But while it may have been a bit of a media stunt, the throuple was ultimately not meant to last
forever. Thorne was reportedly heartbroken when she announced her split from Mongeau in February
2019. Just a few months later, Mongeau got engaged to fellow YouTuber Jake Paul, and Thorne stoked
further tabloid drama by posting a photo of herself hysterically crying with the caption,
quote, "When [your] ex [gets] engaged." But it looked like Thorne did manage to find group love
again. According to Yahoo, the actress appeared to enter another throuple later that year.
While they first began a relationship while Bella was reportedly dating Tana,
Mod Sun and Bella seemed like they were in it for the long haul — at least,
until they weren't. In an April 2019 Instagram post, the actress announced
their breakup and said she would continue to love the rapper. But it didn't take
long for Mod Sun to accuse the actress of lying about the details of their breakup.
"People think it doesn't hurt. But let me tell you, ok, it does hurt."
Two months after calling it quits, Thorne appeared on Jenny McCarthy's SiriusXM show,
where she claimed that Mod Sun was threatening to sell her passport,
computer, and wallet on the internet. She said,
"I just recently missed this big work opportunity I had to do because of this passport situation.
And I needed my scriptwriting computer back. That was a big one."
"There is this Fendi coat that I just love, ugh, there's this Fendi coat,
but the rest, I just like…"
"It's my computer. And my passport. And my wallet."
But Mod Sun had a different take on things. The star told TMZ that Thorne called him
two months after they split, saying she thought her passport might be in his house and that she
needed it in two hours. It was 11 p.m., and he was allegedly on the other side of the country,
but still sent someone to his home to check for it in the morning.
He also claimed she already took her computer back, telling the outlet,
"I was like mind-blown by that, that she would say I was messing up her career.
Like dude, that's her fault." Thorne isn't one to be taken advantage of.
In 2019, the actress was met with controversy after getting ahead of hackers and leaking her own
racy pics. In a tweet, Thorne posted screenshots of a hacker's texts that were threatening the
release of explicit photos and video of the star — along with some steamy snaps. She wrote,
"For the last 24 hours I have been threatened with my own [explicit photos]. For too long I
let a man take advantage of me over and over and I'm f---ing sick of it.
I'm putting this out because it's MY DECISION NOW U DONT GET TO TAKE YET ANOTHER THING FROM
ME. I can sleep tonight better knowing I took my power back."
"What really makes me uncomfortable about somebody having these photos of me
and that it was that it's not my choice to give it to them."
Though Thorne obviously isn't responsible for the actions of hackers, the actress was slammed by
Whoopi Goldberg for getting into the situation in the first place. Goldberg said on The View,
"If you're famous, I don't care how old you are, you don't take nude pictures of yourself."
In response, Thorne made an emotional plea on social media.
"Watching this interview made me feel really bad about myself."
"I feel pretty disgusting, Whoopie, knowing everyone's seen, like, y'know, my s---."
In 2017, Thorne sparked internet outrage over a supposedly body-positive Instagram
caption that some alleged had racist undertones. According to Insider,
it all went down when Thorne posted a photo from her GQ Mexico shoot, revealing that even though
she was insecure about it, she still asked for zero re-touching. She then ended the post with:
"I'M A HUMAN BEING AND I'M REAL. So hip hop your a---- over the fence and GET OVER IT."
Outlets like Revelist labeled the comment a, quote,
"racist Mexican joke" that touched on immigration and Trump's border wall, with one user claiming,
"Fence and Mexico. It's a touchy issue."
Thorne didn't specifically comment on the controversy, but she did subtweet about it.
Along with a trio of heart emojis, she posted, quote, "Latina and proud."
Rob Lowe seems like the type of person you don't want to cross. In the past,
according to The New York Times, he's thrown down over DirecTV blocking the NFL playoffs in
his local area. And even though he's starred in basically a dozen DirecTV commercials,
he apparently doesn't have any qualms about biting the hand that feeds him.
"First of all, if there's anyone who's not familiar with this campaign,
they need to be buried. Cuz they're dead and they're rotting."
And it turns out, Bella Thorne was no match for the outspoken star.
Lowe's rage was sparked when Thorne complained about how L.A. traffic was forcing her to
miss Mod Sun's concert. The only problem was that it wasn't the usual highway congestion,
it was instead a jam caused by a deadly mudslide. Lowe posted on Instagram,
"This attitude is why people hate celebrities [and] Hollywood. Bella,
I'm sorry you were inconvenienced. We will try to move out our dead quicker."
According to Insider, Lowe and his family had to evacuate their home in Montecito due to
the mudslides, which killed at least 15 people. The Internet doesn't take too kindly to A-listers
ripping off the little guys, so it's no surprise that Thorne's copycat eyeshadow palette sparked
mass outrage. Sure, it's hard to be original in an over-saturated celebrity-studded makeup industry,
but fans definitely noticed that Thorne's signature palette bore a striking resemblance
to one by Juvia's Place — an independent, beauty brand owned by Nigerian mom-of-two, ChiChi Eburu.
According to Insider, Thorne released two eyeshadow palettes through her record label,
Filthy Fangs — which was already an odd sort of setup, since makeup isn't music.
She did apparently attempt to "address" the scandal via her Instagram story, when she wrote:
"Shoutout to anyone dumb enough to say that every makeup palette looks the same, bro. Cause guess
what? Every palette does look the same, except for mine. It [doesn't] look the same as anyone's."
But anyone with eyes could see that one particular palette by Thorne was nearly
identical to the one by Juvia's Place — sharing some of the same
shades along with similar packing. As the beauty brand said in a statement,
"There are some similarities across every spectrum but we need to keep pushing forward.
It’s unacceptable, seems like Bella’s team members didn’t do enough research."
Amidst the social media outcry, Thorne tried to defend herself,
claiming that she may have used the same manufacturer as Juvia's Place and
questioning whether she was, quote, "[supposed] to look up every pallet
ever made." She then retweeted a photo of a different Juvia's Place palette and posted,
"Honestly this one is dope if I were gonna copy one it's this one."
But at the end of the day, perhaps a simple apology could have done the job here, Bella.
"Excuse me, I have an announcement." Throughout 2020, subscription-based platform
OnlyFans became a hotbed for adult celebrity content. According to Entertainment Weekly,
Cardi B — who got her professional start as a stripper — joined the platform,
though she was just sharing behind-the-scenes footage rather than x-rated content.
Singer Aaron Carter also has an account, which is reportedly a ripoff for anyone who was hoping
to see him get down and dirty. And finally, Bella Thorne joined the platform and became
one of the few celebs who managed to ruffle feathers in the industry, across the globe.
According to The Guardian, Thorne — who claimed she joined the platform to research a new
role — ended up making $2 million in less than a week by charging her 50,000-ish subscribers
$200 for explicit pics. The problem was that while she claimed she would be wearing zero clothes,
she wasn't. Instead, she appeared in lingerie, and customers complained,
triggering a slew of refunds.
At the time, it very much seemed like the incident caused OnlyFans to change their policy in a way
that disadvantaged account owners who didn't have a multi-million dollar net worth — though
the platform denied this. Previously, there were no payment caps, but now exclusive content is
limited to $50 a pop, and tips are cut off at $100. All creators are also paid monthly
instead of weekly, which rightly angered those living paycheck to OnlyFans paycheck.
"I've put myself out there, I know that a lot of people don't agree,
and some people do, it's who I am. But luckily my fans do."
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