Bella Thorne’s Nude Photo Hack Leaves ‘The View’ Divided: “They Have a Right to Privacy!”

The women of The View have found themselves divided once more. On Monday morning, the panel discussed actress Bella Thorne, who recently posted topless photos on Twitter in an attempt to thwart a hacker threatening to release the photos. While moderator Whoopi Goldberg ripped Thorne for taking nude photos — “You don’t get to do that,” said Goldberg — her co-hosts felt more empathetic towards the 21-year-old actress and model. “This is very, very common,” said Meghan McCain. She went on to defend Thorne and her “right to privacy,” adding, “The only reason why I didn’t is because my family was in politics. That’s it.”

Goldberg gave a quick recap of the scandal at the beginning of the segment, asking her co-hosts if posting photos yourself is “the way to do it” when dealing with hackers. “I saw the pictures of her nude,” said Joy Behar. “I have to be honest, if I had that body, I’d post them at the Food Emporium.” She added that at 21, Thorne is at “exactly the age when you look the best,” so she can’t fault her for sending nudes. Sunny Hostin then steered the conversation in a more serious direction, saying, “It just saddens me that these kids — that they have to go through this.” Continued Hostin, “For someone to extort her and threaten her with posting these pictures, it’s terrible.”

The View‘s moderator pushed back before Hostin could even finish speaking. “If you’re famous — I don’t care how old you are, you don’t take nude pictures of yourself,” said Goldberg. Hostin offered a rebuttal, saying that Thorne “only wanted to share with one person,” but her co-host wouldn’t have it. “When they’re hacking you, they’re hacking all of your stuff. So whether it’s one picture or a million pictures, once you take that picture, it goes into the cloud and it’s available to any hacker who wants it,” said Goldberg. “And if you don’t know that in 2019, that this is an issue, I’m sorry, your age does not — you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to do that.”

Finally Meghan McCain got her chance to speak, and she stepped in to defend Thorne from Goldberg’s criticism. “This is very, very common,” said McCain, siding with her co-hosts. “It’s very common for people to take nude photos, it’s very common to receive them. Back when I was dating, I used to get them all the time.” However, she never reciprocated. “I will say, I never did it,” said McCain. “The only reason why I didn’t is because my family was in politics. That’s it.” She added that she “knows[s] the temptation,” but she assumes everything she sends is “screenshot” and posted online.

“I will say, we are going to have a president someday that has had a sex tape. That’s just the era we’re living in,” added McCain. “Well, we have one now probably!” said Behar. “Maybe we do, I don’t know,” replied McCain, laughing.

Before throwing the show to commercial, Goldberg attempted to argue her point yet again. “You cannot be surprised that someone has hacked you,” she said. “But they have a right to privacy!” yelled McCain as The View‘s music played (she’s right: they do). “We’ll be back,” said Goldberg, shutting down the conversation once and for all.

Check out The View‘s nude photo debate in the clip above.

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