Frankie Bridge has spoken openly about the “disparaging” sexual harassment she receives online.
The former pop star, 34, revealed the constant barrage of harassment she faces, saying she’s being sent ‘disgusting’ messages ‘regularly’ ‘all the time’.
Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Frankie praised Emily Atack for directing her documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It?
Speaking to the publication, she said: “I don’t get it in general [sent] Pictures but I’ve had normal people sending me the same disgusting messages all the time.
“I know now what it’s going to be, so I’m trying not to open it up, but it makes you feel belittled – and I think that’s a conversation we need to have.
Honest: Frankie Bridge has opened up about the “disparaging” sexual harassment she’s receiving online
“It’s really hard to tackle and we still have a long way to go before it’s eradicated.”
Emily, 33, recently broke down in tears as she revealed her feelings at receiving hundreds of unwanted messages and pictures from men online.
The TV star spoke out in her documentary as she admitted she felt responsible for the messages she is bombarded with on a daily basis from strangers via Instagram.
Back in 2021, Emily met with MPs in Parliament to describe her experience online and encourage them to take action.
She told Grazia after their meeting: “It was an intense conversation about a really important topic.
“It’s a subject I’m so passionate about and it was so amazing to see people sitting in a very important building and taking it seriously. And it’s heart warming to know that people care about the same things you do.”
She added: “It was just a great honor to be part of this discussion and to be heard – and to be respected in that capacity.”
Meanwhile, Frankie spoke about another online issue – Cancel Culture – and says she fears her own children will be censored or punished for things they accidentally say.
Opening up: The former pop star, 34, revealed the constant barrage of harassment she faces and said she is being sent ‘disgusting’ messages ‘regularly’ ‘all the time’.
The star has two children, Parker, nine, and Carter, seven.
Speaking to the publication, she said: “The abandonment culture is really unhealthy. We’ve always taught our kids that when you make a mistake, apologize, learn from it, and move on.
“And now we’re telling young people that if you screw up once, you screw it up.
“Obviously there are different levels of it and some things that you can’t come back from, but I think it’s going to change the way television and journalism work.
“And how general life works for little kids — and I worry about them.”
It comes after Emily wiped away tears in her documentary when she told her mother, Kate Robbins, that she finds it “difficult” to talk about because it affects her and those around her.
Praise: Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Frankie praised Emily Atack for directing her documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It?
She told Ms Robbins: “I see the pain on your face when we try to talk things through. We can’t talk about it because it’s too difficult.’
Ms Robbins said: “It’s very difficult – the overwhelming sense of guilt is hard to explain to people.
Ms Atack started crying and said: “I don’t know why I’m upset, I think I’m really tired. I’m sorry it’s so uncomfortable.”
Ms Robbins came over to hug her daughter and said: “It’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself.”
Ms Atack then reflected on her teenage years, revealing that she got drunk more than others at parties and dated boys.
She shared that she was afraid of men and acquired this behavior as a coping mechanism by opening up to men and boys from a young age, having had her first sexual experience with an 18-year-old at age 12 with an 18-year-old.
Bombarded: Speaking to the publication, she said, ‘I don’t get it in general [sent] Pictures but I’ve had normal people sending me the same disgusting messages all the time.
Ms Atack has investigated the inappropriate unwanted sexual messages she receives from men and the fact that she blames herself for them.
She said: “What I really want to bring out is that this girl at school, we all know one, the girl who gets drunk more than everyone else at a party and she dates all the boys, there’s another story .
She continued, “She’s not doing it because she wants to, because she likes sex and getting her boobs out, she feels like there’s no other way right now and she’s looking for something in the wrong places.
“It’s too easy to go ‘slag’, but you shouldn’t have to look for those things when you’re 13 years old. If you are, obviously there is some pain.
“I speak from experience, I’ve never felt so much pain as when I was behaving like this.”
The star then revealed she was treated a certain way by men and women afterward.
She said that’s why she thinks the messages she’s getting are her fault, adding, “Men are shooting at us, ‘you asked for it’, it avoids accountability.”
But Ms Atack then said: ‘We don’t ask about it. It is their behavior that needs to change.”
At the beginning of the show, Ms Atack had a conversation with her mother after reading the messages she received and becoming upset about them.
She said: “I didn’t expect it to be so abhorrent, I felt my daughter was hurt and I couldn’t protect her.”
Honest: She says she adopted the behavior as a coping mechanism and opened up to men and boys at a young age, having had her first sexual experience with an 18-year-old when she was 12
Her daughter then admitted she felt guilty because she blamed herself for showing her the news and making her sad.
But her mother assured her that she left the room at the time because she had a hard time seeing the screenshots.
Ms Atack later cried as her mother hugged her and told her not to blame herself for the news.
Ms Robbins said: “I’m just so sorry that your whole life you’ve felt like it was all your fault. It is not. I was just trying to protect you as a mother. You must never blame yourself.”