Call Her Daddy – Madison Beer: Blackmailed With My Nudes (FBF)

Host: Alex Cooper
Guest: Madison Beer
Release Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This raw and intensely personal episode centers on singer Madison Beer’s rise to fame, her struggles with online victimization and childhood trauma, and her journey toward healing, empathy, and self-advocacy. With brutal honesty, Madison recounts the experience of being blackmailed with her nudes as a young teen amid the perils of early Internet fame, as well as the aftershocks of sexual abuse in her childhood. Through reflective, empowering discussion, Alex and Madison peel back the performative sheen of celebrity, highlighting the often impossible pressures, misogyny, and lack of compassion faced by women in the public eye. Madison’s recently published memoir, The Half of It, serves as the springboard for deep dives into these experiences, aiming to humanize victims and encourage greater empathy both online and in everyday life.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Madison’s Childhood, Parents’ Divorce, and Growing Up Fast

• Early Fame and Online Scrutiny: Madison was thrust into the spotlight at 13 when Justin Bieber posted her YouTube cover (02:03). Since then, immense social media attention—often negative—has followed her.
• Happy Core Memory: Summer camp was Madison’s “escape place” during her parents’ divorce—a time she could “live for herself,” highlighting the loneliness and confusion of her childhood.
  — “I lived for camp … that’s definitely my happy place.” (03:38)
• Effect of Divorce: She became a “mediator” for her parents and their new partners, forced to grow up fast and protect her younger brother. This involvement with her father’s relationships led to deep-seated abandonment and attachment issues.
  — “I did have to see … this revolving door of women … it definitely also instilled abandonment issues in me very, very young.” (05:47)

2. Life in the Public Eye and the Impact of Social Media

• Objectification and Humanization: The Internet dehumanizes, scrutinizes, and invents narratives about public figures, with Alex noting:
  — “The Internet is a dark, scary place.” (02:47)
• Madison’s Memoir: The Half of It is praised for its honesty and the perspective it provides on Madison as a person, not just a celebrity (02:54).

3. The Trauma of Having Nudes Leaked as a Minor

• The Leak: At age 15 (possibly as young as 13 in some videos), nudes Madison sent to a trusted boy were leaked via apps like Snapsave, then spread online.
  — “If I get a call in the middle of the night, I’m back, I’m 15 again … finding out this video is out there and it’s really scary.” (11:47)
• Immediate Response: Madison describes frantic damage control, being unable to stop the spread, getting blocked by those who shared the videos, and feeling totally powerless.
  — “I remember just dropping to the floor and being like, oh my God, what do I do?” (13:13)
• Aftermath: The violation spawned years of PTSD and triggers—particularly the fear of being watched or blackmailed further.
  — “I got an anonymous text message … it was a picture of a computer screen with like, 50 videos on it … I couldn’t believe that they had everything I’d ever sent.” (19:14)

4. Victim-Blaming, Double Standards, and Lack of Protection

• Victim-Blaming: Madison faces ongoing shame and blame—both in her youth and still now—from people who minimize the trauma or say she’s at fault for sending the images.
  — “People are like, maybe you shouldn’t have been dumb enough to send that … I was a young girl with an app called Snapchat.” (13:12)
• Gender Double Standards: Boys who share or save nudes aren’t held accountable. Madison reflects on differences in how men and women are treated for the same actions, and how bro culture enabled her ex to share her images:
  — “I was learning very quickly that men and women get treated very differently.” (19:14)
• Then-vs-Now: Madison highlights how platforms today might better protect a minor, but when her videos leaked, no one intervened, removed content, or sympathized:
  — “I am hopeful that now the Internet would protect a 14, 15 year old girl … I didn’t get that privilege.” (21:48)
• Financial and Emotional Cost: She spent all her earnings on teams to scrub the Internet, personally scouring the web for every post.
  — “Every dollar I’d earned up until that point … I then spent on clearing this and scrubbing it from the Internet.” (21:48)

5. Online Sexualization, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and Their Impact

• Abuse as a Child: Madison shares, for the first time publicly, having been abused around age six or seven by someone often around her (29:17). The deep shame and confusion lasted years; she confided in her mother only long after the fact.
• Online Sexualization: The Internet’s commentary (from strangers and grown men) was agonizing, especially as Madison hadn't even engaged in consensual sex at the time:
  — “There was such … sexualization of you on the Internet … you are looking at yourself, barely have ever been in a sexual relationship.” (28:07)
• Harassment and PTSD: The compounded trauma of childhood abuse and online comments contributed to ongoing triggers, panic, and dissociation—especially in dark or enclosed spaces. Madison describes needing grounding techniques and supportive friends/crew while touring.
  — “I have horrible paranoia … if I know people are there, I’m okay.” (37:39)

6. Coping, Healing, and Living with BPD

• Boundaries and Support: Madison discusses healing as a long process, recommending patience, boundaries, and self-friendship to survivors (“be your own best friend” (41:18)).
• Honest About Mental Health: She details her diagnosis with borderline personality disorder (BPD), caused by her history of trauma, not as an inherent defect—hoping to destigmatize it.
  — “It feels like my entire life's journey … has been a perfectly crafted cocktail of situations that landed me at this borderline personality diagnosis.” (53:20)
• Therapeutic Perspective: Madison has learned that being resilient doesn’t mean she “should have gone through” such pain; she’s at peace, but still healing:
  — “Just because you’ve shouldered them gracefully … doesn’t mean you should have had to go through them.” (36:43)

7. Accountability, Suicide, and the Toll of the Internet

• Suicidal Ideation: Madison attempted suicide twice during her darkest periods (59:01), overwhelmed by relentless bullying and dehumanization. She reminds listeners:
  — “I just want to talk about that for a minute because … people need to realize what their words can do.” (42:28)
• Ongoing Struggle: Even now, hurtful comments trigger panic attacks. She refutes the narrative that choosing public life means accepting abuse:
  — “Why does being in my position mean I have to endure abuse?” (46:41)
• Hunger for Empathy: Both Madison and Alex plead for kindness and understanding toward anyone—famous or not—because everyone has a story others can’t see.

8. Relationships, Rumors, and Clearing the Air

• Dating, Codependency, Red Flags: Madison acknowledges her tendency toward codependent relationships due to abandonment issues, and now avoids men who blame female exes or lack basic hygiene.
• Rumors About Fame & Justin Bieber: Madison directly addresses speculation about her industry connections, clarifying her discovery was organic—her parents had no inside ties, and Justin Bieber posted her video because he liked it (65:13).
• Endless Gossip: She laments the Internet's fixation, conspiracies, and lack of empathy for her, despite her transparency.

9. Why Write a Memoir at 24?

• Madison explains that The Half of It is for her—a way to tell her truth unfiltered—and to urge people to see the humanity in everyone:
  — “Now that you’ve read my story, I hope you realize that everyone has a story you just haven’t read yet.” (71:47)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the impact of her parents’ divorce:
  “That was sort of the beginning of aging me really quickly and growing up really fast, because I was just put in sort of adult positions really young.” — Madison (04:57)
• On the infamous leak:
  “I just feel powerless in the moment. And then I’m just sitting and typing my name in quotation marks on Twitter to see everything people are saying about me … and it was just everywhere.” — Madison (13:13)
• On not blaming herself:
  “That was also me learning very quickly that, like, men and women get treated very differently.” — Madison (19:14)
• On sexualization as a minor:
  “So much endless like sexualization … grown men participating in the conversation … when you’re young, you don’t realize how young you really are.” — Madison (23:19)
• On healing and therapy:
  “Just because you’ve shouldered them gracefully … doesn’t mean you should have had to go through them.” — Madison (36:43)
• On the power of online hate:
  “I still have not gotten used to it … I spend every night crying my eyes out because people are so vicious.” — Madison (43:09)
• On BPD and trauma:
  “It feels like my entire life’s journey … has been a perfectly crafted cocktail of situations that landed me at this borderline personality diagnosis.” — Madison (53:20)
• On wanting empathy:
  “I just hope for a day of like, people having empathy and people not judging each other and being able to be kind and loving.” — Madison (59:01)
• On her message to listeners and readers:
  “Just be nice and just love each other … Now that you’ve read my story, I hope you realize that everyone has a story you just haven’t read yet, and that’s the truth.” — Madison (69:59, 71:47)

Important Timestamps

• [03:38] Madison’s happy childhood memory
• [04:31] Discussing effects of parents’ divorce
• [11:36] Madison recounts the experience of her nudes being leaked
• [19:14] Reflection on victim-blaming and double standards
• [28:07] Impact of being sexualized as a minor
• [29:17] Madison describes experiencing childhood sexual abuse
• [36:43] Lessons from therapy and healing
• [42:28] Talking openly about suicide attempts
• [53:20] Madison on her BPD diagnosis
• [59:01] How the Internet and trauma nearly ended her life
• [65:13] Debunking rumors about Justin Bieber and her career start
• [71:47] Why she wrote a memoir—and her hope for empathy

Tone & Style

The episode is candid, vulnerable, conversational, and darkly humorous at times. Both Madison and Alex speak with deep authenticity, moving fluidly from gravity to laughter as a means of emotional survival. Their language is direct, unapologetic, and often explicit, reflecting both the seriousness of Madison’s experiences and the liberating power of honest expression.

Final Thoughts

This episode is a testament to the urgency of empathy, the long shadow cast by childhood and online trauma, and the perverse culture of victim-blaming, misogyny, and casual cruelty that persists across digital platforms. Madison Beer’s honesty cuts through tabloid-fueled narratives, offering a plea for kindness and a reminder that beneath every celebrity persona is a complex, hurting, and resilient human being.

For anyone struggling with similar issues, please know help is available, and you are not alone.