BELLA THORNE

Bella Thorne Says Casting Director Accused Her of ‘Flirting' at Age 10

Bella Thorne recently recalled going on an audition when she was 10 years, where a casting director allegedly accused her of “flirting with him” and making “him really uncomfortable.”

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Content warning: This story discusses sexual abuse.

Bella Thorne said her early acting experiences weren't all rosey.

During an appearance on 's "High Low" podcast, the Disney Channel alum alleged that she lost an acting job when she was 10 years old after an unnamed casting director accused her of "flirting" with him at an audition.

"The casting director calls my agent and the agent calls my mom, and they're like, ‘So she's not moving forward because the director felt like she was flirting with him and it made him really uncomfortable,'" Thorne recalled on the Dec. 27 episode, per The Hollywood Reporter. "What the ---- are you talking about, man?!"

Thorne, 25, admitted she "still go[es] back" to that interaction "every day," adding that it drives her "crazy." She said she must subsequently remind herself that, as a child, she was "not the problem" in that situation.

"I'm trying to find almost fault in myself," she continued. "Like: ‘What did you do, Bella? What did you do that made him feel like this?' And every time, I'm like, ‘Bella, stop it.' Even that thought right there is becoming part of the problem."

The "Shake It Up" star also said she was confused on how the casting director would jump to that conclusion because, as she explained, "in a director's session, you can't really say or do anything."

"You do the scene, you say hello and you walk out," she said. "There is no time to go sit on your lap or make you uncomfortable."

Thorne's interview comes five years after she first revealed her past sexual abuse while voicing her support for the anti-sexual misconduct Time's Up fundraising campaign. Responding to a person's comment on Twitter, she said in December 2017 that she was molested as a child, noting that Disney had nothing to do with it. She opened up about her experience more on Instagram the following month.

"I was sexually abused and physically growing up from the day I can remember till I was 14..when I finally had the courage to lock my door at night and sit by it," she wrote on Instagram in January 2018. "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. "

The actress added, "But some of us aren't as lucky to get out alive. Please today stand up for every soul Mistreated. #timesup." 

(E!, Peacock and NBC are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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