8 Things To Know About The Former Disney Star Bella Thorne Who Just Admitted She Endured Childhood Sexual Abuse
She recently spoke up about being sexually abused on Instagram.
WeHeartIt This past weekend, actress Bella Thorne revealed on Instagram that she was sexually abused as a child.
"I was sexually abused and physically growing up from the day I can remember till I was 14," she wrote. "When I finally had the courage to lock my door at night and sit by it. All damn night. Waiting for someone to take advantage of my life again."
"Over and over I waited for it to stop and finally it did. But some of us aren't as lucky to get out alive. Please today stand up for every soul Mistreated. #timesup."
The photo, which was posted Jan. 8, was liked over 500,000 times and gained over 7,000 comments. Thorne shared a tearful video the next day on her Instagram story. thanking fellow victims of abuse for sharing their stories.
“Reading about all the people sharing your sexual-abuse stories with me from mine and I just want to say I’m really proud of all you guys,” She said. “I’m really proud. Stay strong. Peace. I love you guys.”
Her video has been reposted by third-party twitter accounts.
"#TruthHasAVoice If yall need someone to talk about ANYTHING that bothering you, any issue, you can always talk to me. I'm here for any of you," a user named @celebconfes wrote after posting Thorne's video. "My DM is always OPEN. I love you, please be strong. You can do it. @bellathorne."
Here are 8 things to know about Thorne and her history of abuse:
1. She was made famous by the Disney show Shake It Up.
Thorne played CeCe Jones on the Disney dance show Shake It Up for three seasons starting in 2010. She played the main character alongside Zendaya.
2. She said she was forced into the show because of her family's financial situation.
On an appearance in MTV's Happy Sad Confused podcast, she revealed her real reason for starring in the Disney show.
"Do you think that I wanted to be a Disney girl?" she said. "Did you think I wanted to do that? We were about to live physically on the street if I didn't have that role. We were living off Stouffer's coupons, and that's all we had to eat every day. That may not sound like a big deal to everybody, but when you're a single mom raising four kids with debt and you have nothing to your name, it's f--ing shi--y."
3. She struggled to get jobs after Shake It Up ended.
"It was really hard to get a job after the show," she said. "People didn't want to read me. They didn't want to see me because they were like, 'She's a Disney actress.' So for me, it was like starting back at the bottom and working my way up all the way again."
4. Instagram is her main source of income.
With nearly 17 million followers, Thorne said that her massive Instagram following helped her get back into the spotlight. She said it's her main source of income.
"I started out 18 with literally not a cent to my name. $200 in my bank account when I turned 18. Nothing else. I bought a house this year from social media work, only from social media work. My social media to me is how I pay my bills."
5. Her ex, Lil Peep, died of an apparent drug overdose.
The 21-year-old rapper was found dead on his tour bus this past November. Though an investigation into his death is still ongoing, detectives found drug paraphernalia on the bus and evidence of a drug overdose.
Thorne was linked to Lil Peep in September when a photo of them kissing surfaced.
"Peep you deserved more out of a life. Life didn't do your greatness justice," she wrote on Twitter after he passed.
6. This isn't the first time she talked about her abusive past.
In December, Thorne posted a photo of herself in a purple suit with the caption: "I would f--k this suit if I could." One user wrote: "What did Disney do to this girl?! I think she was molested?"
She replied: "Yeah I was. So it wasn't Disney."
7. Her father died when she was very young.
Her father, Reinaldo Thorne, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2007. She was 9 years old, and his death put her family in poverty. It also kept Thorne from getting her driver's license, due to a fear of driving.
8. She has dyslexia.
Thorne has publicly spoken about suffering from dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes it hard to read or write. She first started talking about it in 2013.
"Nobody ever taught me," she told Harpers Bazaar. "I just felt so stupid. It was really hard for a long time because I was always told I was a stupid girl."
Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, true crime, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTango’s Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram (@blackw00d) and Twitter (@emztweetz).