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Whoopi Goldberg’s Attack On Bella Thorne Is Gross And Here’s Why

Victim blaming is NEVER okay.

Whoopi Goldberg just publicly shamed Bella Thorne for this whole nudes ordeal, and it is so not on.

As you may have heard through the rotten grape vine that is celebrity gossip, Bella Thorne recently posted her nudes on Twitter because she was threatened by a hacker. She did it to take back control and empower herself.

So, What Happened With Bella Thorne And Whoopi Goldberg?

Bella Thorne posted a screenshot on Twitter, saying she had been threatened for 24 hours.

“I feel gross, I feel watched, I feel someone has taken something from me that I only wanted one special person to see,” she said.

She knew she would lose either way, so she took back the hacker’s only weapon and posted the nude photo, saying “I can sleep tonight better knowing I took my power back.”

“For too long I let a man take advantage of me over and over and I’m fucking sick of it. I’m putting this out because it’s MY DECISION NOW, YOU DON’T GET TO TAKE YET ANOTHER THING FROM ME.”

Obvs, the media world was buzzing about something so controversial. Whoopi Goldberg in particular, had a lot to say about Bella Thorne’s nudes. During a panel that was discussing it on The View, Whoopi had some harsh criticism.

“If you’re famous, I don’t care how old you are. You don’t take nude pictures of yourself,” Whoopi said.

“Once you take that picture, it goes into the Cloud and it’s available to any hacker who wants it, and if you don’t know that in 2019 that this is an issue, I’m sorry. You don’t get to do that.”

So yeah, basically Whoopi Goldberg totally threw Bella Thorne under the bus and shamed her in such a conservative-boomer-mum manner that it’s actually gross.There’s so much that’s wrong with her argument, and we need to break it down.

Why Whoopi Goldberg’s Comments Are So Wrong

Let’s get one thing straight. Bella Thorne is a victim in this situation. She didn’t actually do anything wrong. I don’t really care what you think about nudes – it doesn’t matter if you think they’re okay or not. You’re welcome to personally disapprove, but you can’t police other people.

Women are allowed to take pictures of themselves for whatever reason they want, be it to spice up some sexting, to share an intimate moment with a partner, or just because it feels empowering. It’s a completely legal thing that you can do, and it’s actually nobody’s business if you do.

Whoopi Goldberg shaming and victim blaming Bella Thorne totally misses the point of this issue – it’s not about women taking nudes. What we should be talking about is the culture we’ve created that allows men to threaten and blackmail women. There’s some sexist shit going on here, and I’m honestly done with it.

Nude leaks aren’t random attacks. They don’t happen to just famous people. This is not a ‘celebrity’ issue, as Whoopi framed it. Revenge porn and nude leakage is something that almost exclusively happens to young women, regardless of fame. It is violent, targeted, and designed purely to intimidate and extort women. And in Australia, it’s actually criminal thanks to our new revenge porn laws.

Acting like Bella Thorne should know better as a celebrity is ridiculous – this is not just a celebrity issue. As she pointed out in her tear-filled and (rightfully) angry response video, many young girls kill themselves because of leaked nudes all over the world.

This isn’t a celebrity issue, it’s a feminism one. It’s about basic rights, privacy and control over our bodies, and it’s about holding offenders accountable.

Whoopi Goldberg’s statements are fucked because victim blaming is never okay. You can’t blame Bella and ignore the attacker.

Bella responded to Whoopi’s comments, and she’s a straight up legend. She totally nails the damaging impact Whoopi’s words have on vulnerable girls everywhere, and now she’s cancelled any appearances on The View in protest.

“Blaming girls for taking the photo in the first place? Is sick and honestly disgusting,” she said.

“I really hope you’re so fucking happy because I can only imagine all the kids who have their shit released and then they commit suicide.”

 

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Can We Stop Talking About Bella And Start Talking About Her Attacker

Yes, I’m going to refer to the hacker as an attacker, because he is one. Threats are inherently violent.

We need to talk about Whoopi’s statement about “The Cloud.” When we talk about ‘the Cloud’, we basically deflect all responsibility off the offender and treat the leak as just some inevitable thing that happens on the internet. Like it’s the price we pay for existing online.

It completely removes the fact that men are actively targeting women in these sex scandal smear campaigns, and it also ignores the fact that it’s largely men consuming these nudes too. It takes away accountability from hackers who extort and blackmail women, and makes it seem like some mystified unseen force.

No.

We need to hold Bella’s attacker accountable for what he’s done, because that’s how we stop the shitty rape culture we live in that enables this treatment of women in the first place.

Bella, we’re with you. Keep standing up for all victims of nude leaks.

Image sources: GIPHY, ABC.

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