Bella Thorne claims Disney 'almost fired' her for wearing bikini aged 14
Bella Thorne has claimed she was "almost fired" by Disney for wearing a bikini on the beach when she was 14 years old.
The 25-year-old, who starred alongside Zendaya in Disney Channel series Shake It Up between 2010 and 2013, told model Emily Ratajkowski on her High Low with EmRata podcast earlier this week that she came under fire for wearing the two-piece.
"One time I almost got fired off the Disney Channel because I was 14, and I wore a two-piece on the beach," she said. "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. 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.'"
The Midnight Sun star explained that Disney executives felt pressure from the public to let her go due to her outfit choice but they ultimately kept her on as CeCe Jones. However, they gave her some conditions.
"They were like, 'Hey, we're getting a lot of heat for this. 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,'" she recalled.
Emily replied, "But they want you to look hot on a red carpet," to which Bella added, "Yes, it doesn't make any sense!"
Bella shared a couple of instances in which she felt sexualised as a young girl on the podcast - she also claimed a director turned her down for a role when she was 10 because he thought she was flirting with him in an audition.
