Influencer bombarded with intercourse messages from footballers when she was 14: ‘They are paedos’
A top influencer has revealing how actors and soccer stars targeted her with dodgy messages when she was only 14, branding them paedos while not sharing the names that would ‘kill careers’
Paola Locatelli has revealed that her fame as a teen brought suspect attention from VIPs she now labels ‘paedophiles’(Image: paolalct/Instagram)
Paola Locatelli’s career as one of France’s top fashion stars started when she was young but, she now reveals, so did the sleazy advances from celebrities.
The 21-year-old influencer didn’t think much about it at the time, she said on her podcast Sipsters. Now, though, she “feels disgusted”. While she’s holding back on ending their careers, she’s in no doubt that their interest in her was twisted: “They were paedophiles.”
“When I was 14 or 15, I didn’t realize how hypersexualized I was by men,” she told her fans. “I received private messages from all the soccer players, even actors…”
Paola’s exotic looks come from her mixed Cape Verdean and Italian descent. She grew up in the Parisian suburb of Vincennes and began her fashion career at only 12 with her clothing collection Star Styles in collaboration with the online fashion retailer Lesara.
She gained international attention as a teen in 2019 from being recognized by Rihanna at a Fenty Beauty event in Seoul. Today she has 1.9 million followers on Instagram.
But she has now revealed how she suffered from hyper-sexualisation during her adolescence, getting private messages from soccer players and other public figures while she was a minor.
Sharing the names of these celebrity followers could “kill careers“, she added.
“When I was 14 or 15, I didn’t realize how hypersexualised I was by men. I received private messages from all the soccer players, even actors…”
As a child, she said, she barely grasped the implications. Looking back, she feels she was a victim of men who wanted to exploit her.
“They were paedophiles,” she said.
“I was 14 years old, everyone knew it. Even though they said I looked older, it was obvious I had a child’s face. Back then, I thought I was an adult, that I looked older, but now, at 21, when I see myself at 14, I was a child… Now I feel disgusted.”
The unwelcome interest stemmed from a sudden physical change. “Overnight, suddenly, I developed breasts,” she said.
“That’s when it all started: puberty, the stares. I didn’t realize how hypersexualised I was by older men. I needed their approval.
“I’d tell my friends, ‘How funny, that guy flirted with me.’ In retrospect, I feel disgusted now.”
France’s Penal Code means her celebrity online pursuers could have ended up in jail. An adult who makes sexual advances to a minor under 15 by electronic means could face two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.
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