I guess it's not always an honor to be nominated. According to a series of tweets, Famous in Love star Bella Thorne is boycotting the Teen Choice Awards, despite having received multiple nods going into the August 12 ceremony.
On Tuesday, Thorne made her feelings about Fox's annual show known when she put the award ceremony on blast via Twitter.
"Teen choice is gross," the actress wrote, followed by:
"The fact we are even voting against each other is .... it fucks w kids heads like a beauty competition..."
"I’m #boycottingteenchoice besides it being rigged it’s just fucked up."
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She concluded with:
"Vote for the hottest is so gross How about smartest? Or a charity category? How about we hype people up for doing good things not being hot."
Teen choice is gross
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) July 24, 2018
The fact we are even voting against each other is .... it fucks w kids heads like a beauty competition...
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) July 24, 2018
I’m #boycottingteenchoice besides it being rigged it’s just fucked up.
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) July 24, 2018
Vote for the hottest is so gross
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) July 24, 2018
How about smartest?
Or a charity category? How about we hype people up for doing good things not being hot
Thorne is likely referring to two categories within the award show: "Choice Female Hottie" and "Choice Male Hottie." Unlike some of the show's categories, these nominations include celebrities, not the specific characters they portray in a TV show or film. This year, stars like Hailey Baldwin, Yara Shahidi, Shawn Mendes, and Zac Efron are nominated across the two categories.
Though Thorne called the show "rigged," the official Teen Choice Awards website maintains that voting for each category is done online, by fans. According to the official rules, "votes are tabulated electronically and winners are determined based on the nominees in each category with the highest number of eligible votes." (Refinery29 has reached out to Thorne and a representative for the Teen Choice Awards for comment.)
Thorne herself is nominated in several categories. She scored a nod for Choice Drama Actress for Midnight Sun, Choice Drama TV Actress for Famous in Love, and Choice Movie Ship for Midnight Sun along with co-star Patrick Schwarzenegger.
The Teen Choice Awards are known for typically celebrating films, TV shows, and performers that attract a massive fandom — specifically, a fandom that appeals to a younger audience.
Too often, what and who matters to young people doesn't get celebrated on a massive stage, even though it's young people who absorb a great deal of content. The Teen Choice Awards allows young people a chance to honor the things important to them, categories like "Best Movie Ship" and all.
But Thorne does have a point about the show's Choice Hottie categories. A quick glimpse at the list reveals plenty of babes, but I think we can all agree that people like grown-ish star and activist Shahidi have a lot more to offer than just their looks. Why not revamp the category to something a little less looks-focused? Choice Role Model would put a far more positive spin on that particular nomination.
Generation Z has a lot to offer the world, and Thorne is right: Teens don't need to celebrate hotties when they could be honoring stars who make doing good look great.