Former Disney child actor Bella Thorne has become the latest child star to open up about the pedophile epidemic at the heart of the entertainment industry.
Bella Thorne says she was molested from age 6 to 14 while working at Disney and she claims it was an open secret and people did nothing to stop the abuse.
“Everyone around me saw and did nothing.”
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Bella Thorne discussed the alleged molestation while promoting her upcoming book The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray on BUILD Series.
In the interview, the starlet, who played CeCe Jones in Shake It Up, was asked by an audience member about the transition between being tightly controlled by Disney and to where she can now freely express herself.
Thorne stated:
“The transition, it’s definitely tough. But it is what it is. It’s like anything in my life. If you read the book you’ll be like, ‘Haha transitioning from Disney to this was f****** easy.’ I don’t know. Getting molested for f****** from when your six to your fourteen seems like way harder circumstances. You’re being physically abused all the time. Seems like a much more difficult situation than f****** having paparazzi following you since you were twelve. Um, I don’t know. I was still being molested when paparazzi were still f****** following me. So it’s pretty hard in my mind to think of these big flashlight photographs, and everyone thinking they know me and talking about me, but having no idea the type of mistreatment that I was still dealing with at that time. That everyone around me saw and did nothing. So, I don’t know you tell me what’s so hard. ‘Cause that to me, way harder than any of this other shit I deal with on a daily basis.”
TheMix reports: Thorne previously was asked what the darkest thing she included in the book was. She answered, “The molestation is pretty dark.” She would then go on to talk about the death of her Dad.
Not only did Bella Throne claim she was being sexually abused at a very young age while working for Disney. But she also claims in her statement that people knew what was going on and did nothing to stop the abuse.
As for Disney, the company has had a troubled history when it comes to the treatment of its young actors. Last December the company fired “Andi Mack” actor Stoney Westmoreland after he was arrested and charged with attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old boy.
Just recently a former Disney executive, Michael Laney, was sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison for sexually abusing a 7 year-old girl.
Bella Throne isn’t the only former Disney star to come out about their abuse. Jordan Pruitt opened up about her own experiences on Facebook last December. She detailed that she had been groomed by an unnamed male figure.
The entertainment industry is still rife with issues related to the protection and care of children. Corey Feldman was one of the first to kick open the door on the extent of the abuse of children in Hollywood when he opened up about his own abuse as a child actorduring the 80s and 90s.
Elijah Wood would also comment on the problem of pedophiles and Hollywood stating, “Let me be clear: This subject of child abuse is an important one that should be discussed and properly investigated.” He added, “But as I made absolutely clear to the writer, I have no firsthand experience or observation of the topic, so I cannot speak with any authority beyond articles I have read and films I have seen.”
What do you make of Bella Thorne’s comments?
