In 2012, pop star Justin Bieber tweeted a link of a then 13-year-old Madison Beer singing a cover of 'At Last' by Etta James. The tweet immediately put Madison in the spotlight, catapulting her to immediate success. Just like any successful public figure, Madison's life invited a lot of scrutiny with all her moves being monitored by media houses globally as well as her friendships and relationships being dissected and discussed at length.
A couple of years ago, a series of her nudes started floating on the internet. Madison, 21, has never really spoken about the biggest scandal that wreaked havoc with her life in these years, however, on International Women's Day, she decided to address the same and speak about it in an elaborate note she tweeted to her 2.5 million followers.
The note began with her mentioning that she in no way wishes to take away attention from all the frightening things happening in the world at the moment, but wanted to speak about an equally significant topic: shaming of women.
She went on to reveal an incident from when she was a teenager that has continued to affect her life to date. She recollected a relationship that she was in when she was 14 years of age. She had shared intimate photos of herself on a messaging app with her then-boyfriend who she had known for years and they both shared feelings for each other. She did share the private photos with her boyfriend trusting him, but all her nightmares became reality soon.
Madison confirms that the boy shared her private photos with his friends who further shared it with anyone and everyone.
She wrote, "I'd walk in to restaurants and be stared at and whispered about. I was told people were ashamed to be working, or even friends with me."
She further opened up about the shame she felt when the video was shown to her parents and grandparents and to people from the music industry. Eventually, the photos made it to the internet and that was the last straw. The incident left Madison completely shattered. "I was distraught and ashamed," she further wrote. The event has left her with crippling trust issues that have since stayed with her.
To add to her misery, she received a few phone calls on the occasion of her 21st birthday when people close to her brought her attention to another video she had shared with the same boy that was doing the rounds again.
Madison wrote how this reopened the can of worms as she has lived in fear all these years worrying about the fact that the video would resurface again and damage her career. However, she is taking a different approach after all these years and finally letting it all go.
"You should not feel shame. you were exploring your sexuality. you were learning. you should not feel like you did something wrong. shame on those who betrayed your trust & SHAME ON THOSE WHO SHAMED YOU," she wished she could tell her 14-year-old self in hopes that some of the girls who are going through what she went through could take a note of and be kinder to themselves.
The singer has finally let go off all the shame and all the trauma that was a part of her life for the past seven years and is finally looking forward to being the young woman that she always aspired to be. She added: "Own your mistakes as a young women learning about the world. don't let them define you. don't let them keep you in fear. stay safe."
Post the revelation, support poured in in huge measures for Madison and people lauded her for speaking about this
"Also i love you. you’re amazing for sharing this bc it will not only let you take back your power but it is showing all your young fans going through the same situation that they can too " wrote a fan. "U deserve. so proud of all these women in the industry. period," wrote another user.
Another fan tweeted, "I can’t even begin to tell you how beyond proud i am of you. thank you for being such an inspiration to so many people. i love u always."
Madison thanked her fans for all the love and support that she's received since speaking about the incident. She has also promised to share more of her personal struggles and experiences online in a bid to heal others and herself in the process.
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