Bella Thorne, the former Disney Channel star, has said that public accusations of victim-blaming affected her more deeply than the original blackmail attempt itself. In 2019 she pre-empted an alleged hacker who was threatening to leak her private nude photographs by publishing the images herself, a move that made headlines at the time and was widely seen as a bold act of defiance against extortion.

Speaking on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, Thorne recalled that she responded with an honest post on Twitter explaining her decision, but the backlash that followed, including cruel and judgemental reactions, left her feeling "really, really broke". She said the criticism directed at her as the victim of the attempted blackmail proved more damaging than the leak scandal itself.