'IT'S DISGUSTING': Jenna Ortega was sent 'dirty' fake pictures of herself as a teen

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Jenna Ortega was sent explicit images of herself as a teenager.

The 21-year-old actress had become a star on the Disney Channel in the late 2010s and recalled feeling as if she had to have a social media presence but was sent “dirty” fake images of herself from followers, and is now “terrified” by the ever-evolving concept of artificial intelligence.

Speaking on ‘The Interview’ podcast with the New York Times, she said: “I hate AI. . Did I like being 14 [years old] and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to, and seeing dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt.

“It’s wrong, it’s disgusting. Here’s the problem, though. We’ve opened Pandora’s box. Well, it is what it is. It’s out there now. We’re gonna have to deal with the consequences.”

The ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ star noted that she ended up deleting her social media account on X – which was, at the time, known as Twitter – after this behaviour went on for several years, and only got worse once she found worldwide fame in the Netflix hit ‘Wednesday’.

Ortega said: “One of the first actually, the first DM that I ever opened myself when I was 12 was an unsolicited photo of a man’s genitals, and that was just the beginning of what was to come. I ended up deleting about two, three years ago because the influx, after [‘Wednesday’] had come out, of these absurd images and photos.

“They’re just so repulsive, and I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it because it was unnecessary, and I didn’t need that.

“I would make political statements or, just personal ones or just talk about excitement for jobs, and then I was greeted with this stuff. And it was just disgusting, and it made me feel bad. It made me feel uncomfortable.

“It’s awful … So one day, I just woke up and I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t need this anymore.’ So I dropped it!”