Jenna Ortega Shares Sickening Reason Why She Deleted Her X Account

"It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt. It’s wrong."

Chelsi

• Published in Film & TV
• August 30, 2024

At 21, the limelight is nothing new for "Wednesday" star, Jenna Ortega. The young actress started in Hollywood as Harley Diaz in Disney Channel's "Stuck in the Middle."

Her star has steadily risen since she was cast as young Jane in CW's "Jane the Virgin." But her breakout role in the reboot of "Addams Family," cemented Ortega as one of the up-and-comers TV and film buffs should look out for.

The "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" actress recently spoke about experiencing harassment online as part of the press tour for the anticipated film. Ortega isn't unfamiliar with getting dragged online.

She has been a part of the roster of young female stars social media "trolls" targets alternatingly. From being outspoken about social injustices to not being "Latina enough," Ortega has had her pick of controversies.

In her interview with The New York Times, Ortega revealed those issues were a walk in the park compared to the harassment she experienced on X, formerly Twitter. The actress revealed she deleted her account after the general public's overwhelming response to "Wednesday" opened her up to unsolicited messages on social media.

Ortega said she was 14 when she was first encouraged to create a Twitter account to build her image. One of the first DMs she received was a photo of a man's privates.

Even more disturbing were the pornographic AI images of her as a child. Ortega said, "It's terrifying. It's corrupt. It's wrong."

As she stars in the upcoming movie adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's sci-fi novel “Klara and the Sun,” Ortega said AI could be beneficial if used to help humanity.

She saw a story about scientists using AI to detect breast cancer four years before it was life-threatening.

"Let's keep it to that," the young actress said. It shouldn't be used to make deep fake photos and videos of people for pornographic purposes.

Ortega said the influx of those images of her after the success of "Wednesday," led to her departure from the social media platform.

Now, she spends as much of her time away from her phone.

Jenna Ortega's and Chappell Roan's experiences shouldn't be normalized. These illegal images and worrying interactions with so-called fans shouldn't be condoned or tolerated.

It's horrifying what she went through even with her mom, who Ortega said watched her like a hawk, especially when she was a child actor.

It's wise for Ortega to spend her time in random gardens and going for walks instead of doom-scrolling on social media.

Unfortunately, technology is progressing too fast for legislation to catch up.

Some people are way too comfortable doing illegal things online because of their anonymity.

Jenna Ortega said those photos and messages made her feel uncomfortable and disgusting. Somehow, even after she spoke up, she still received suggestive replies in her comment section.

Ortega was not the first actress to receive this kind of treatment online; sadly, she would not be the last. In jest, some people suggested that everyone should delete their X account in protest, as it has become an even worse cesspool than when Ortega was in it.

Chelsi