Bella Thorne Recalls Almost Being Fired by Disney Channel at Age 14 for Wearing a Bikini

Former Disney Channel star Bella Thorne has been opening up about her career as a child actor, including the time she was almost fired for wearing a two-piece bikini at the beach.

The Paradise City actress recalled the incident during Emily Ratajkowski’s High Low With EmRata podcast on Tuesday, December 27, where she shared instances of feeling sexualized as a young girl. “I almost got fired off the Disney Channel because I was 14, and I wore a two-piece on the beach,” she shared (via Variety).

“This stylist that I was hanging out with put this chain on me that’s, like, a body chain. I don’t know? I don’t care. There was a fan; they got a photo of me on the beach. I almost got fired,” she continued. “It was all over the media. It was literally viral in that time. It was, ‘How dare this little girl do this? This is so disgusting.'”

Thorne starred alongside Euphoria‘s Zendaya on the hit Disney Channel series Shake It Up from 2010 to 2013, but her time on the show almost abruptly ended after the bikini photo. “They were like, ‘Hey, we’re getting a lot of heat for this,'” Thorne recalled. “‘Everyone’s getting heat for this because you’re in a bikini on a beach, so she needs to make sure she goes out in boy shorts and a loose t-shirt next time she’s at the beach.'”

Related

Disney+ Hikes Prices, Debuts Lower-Cost Plan With Ads

Before her breakout role on Shake It Up, Thorne began her career appearing in minor roles in various film and television projects, including Entourage and The O.C. In 2007, she landed her first major role as the recurring character Margaux Darling on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money.

During her podcast appearance, Thorne talked about those early days of her career, including an incident with a director when she was 10. “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 said.

“What the f*** are you talking about, man?!” she added. “I don’t give a f*** what the f*** I said! I don’t care if I said, ‘Eat my p**** right now!’ She is 10 years old. Why ever would you think that?”