00:00In 2017, Misha Barton filed a lawsuit against her ex for peddling sexually explicit content
00:06recorded without her knowledge during their whirlwind romance.
00:10I learned that someone I thought I loved and trusted was filming my most intimate and private
00:16moments without my consent.
00:18This revenge porn case happened after a few years of especially brutal treatment by the
00:23tabloids.
00:24Her budding career and celebrity turned into a campaign of slut-shaming, body-shaming,
00:30mental health-shaming.
00:32As someone who was thrust into the spotlight for something I didn't do, I can't help
00:37but wonder, why is this considered an appropriate way to treat public women?
00:42Misha!
00:43Misha, up top, please.
00:45Now, I'm here in Venice Beach to speak with Misha about her battles with revenge porn and
00:51the importance of solidarity with other women.
01:00Having been celebrated in the media for your career and your work, did it ever occur to
01:08you that that fame could be used as a tool against you?
01:15Yes, I think you know what you sign up for.
01:18Once you're in the public eye, you kind of know that you're more vulnerable.
01:23But, you know, I mean, everybody's relationship with the media, I think, and you can probably
01:28relate to this, that goes through tidal waves.
01:31It's a rollercoaster ride.
01:33Misha rose to fame as a 17-year-old starlet on Fox's hit show The O.C.
01:38This song reminds me of you.
01:40After her role as Marissa Cooper catapulted her to fame, Misha became a tabloid darling.
01:46Once she became a fixture of the L.A. party scene, the press coverage around her started
01:51to sour.
01:52Things would only get worse when she met John Zacharias.
01:57It was one of those things where you really can't help who you fall in love with.
02:01It only lasted, like, I think eight days, nine days, and he'd seemingly studied law, was
02:07like outgoing, gregarious, funny, always made everybody laugh.
02:11And also, I got to know him because of my actual, like, neighbors and friends around.
02:17It was almost like the world had vetted him for you.
02:19Yes, I felt that he was safe.
02:22How did you find out that he had sexually explicit materials he had recorded without your
02:28knowledge?
02:29Well, I didn't know forever until one of his friends came to me and said, you should
02:36be careful about him.
02:37Oh, .
02:38And I'd already started to sense around this time that there was a problem.
02:43And then he started bragging about it to the wrong people who came to me.
02:48But then there was still no, like, specific proof, and you would just hope that it would
02:53disappear.
02:53And then when, when did that penny drop where you were like, oh, my God.
02:58Finally, it broke in the press.
03:00And I woke up one day to my friend ran downstairs and she was like, wake up and you have
03:05to
03:06get up because, you know, this is all over the press.
03:08And apparently like all these porn sites are looking to buy it.
03:11And I was like, you know, as you can imagine, completely devastated.
03:15We have seen a lot of stories recently of female celebrities being targeted, targets of so-called
03:22revenge porn.
03:23There are a number of porn sites that the video is allegedly being shot to.
03:27Was, was fear the main feeling that you were feeling at that time?
03:33I don't know.
03:34I mean, I was afraid.
03:36It was a lot of things.
03:37It was a mixture of emotions.
03:39I'm sure a lot of women who go through anything similar feel the same kind of mixture of rage
03:44and fear and uncertainty.
03:47Yesterday, actress Misha Barton and her attorney Lisa Bloom held a press conference announcing
03:51their plan to prosecute someone who's allegedly shopping around videos and photos of the actress.
03:57And then I learned something even worse, that someone is trying to sell these videos and
04:02make them public.
04:03I think that's what most predators are banking on, that you will, you'll have that shame inside
04:08and that you won't fight back.
04:11And to be honest, your head is spinning and you don't know what to do.
04:14But at the end of the day, like, you know, I was raised much stronger than that.
04:20When did you decide to take the case to court?
04:24What made you think this is what I need to do?
04:28Well, I knew that if he'd done it before, he could do it again.
04:32That's one thing.
04:32That was a huge part of it.
04:34And also, I had no choice.
04:36He was now trying to peddle, he was trying to sell it for money.
04:40So he put like a half a million dollar price tag on it.
04:43Did it ever, like, were you ever afraid to stand up for yourself?
04:47I mean, of course you're afraid to stand up for yourself.
04:50I definitely was.
04:51And don't forget this was before, like, Me Too and Time's Up and so, like, it was extremely
04:56taboo.
04:57I had no idea what revenge porn was that was completely foreign to me.
05:02Did you feel like you needed someone to tell you how you could protect yourself?
05:07Well, I mean, I knew what he'd done was a crime, but how to protect myself, I really
05:12didn't know.
05:13I wouldn't have known what to do.
05:15And Lisa's taught me all of that, actually, over time.
05:18She was like, you know, the point is you can go into court and file yourself and make
05:23a complaint.
05:24I mean, without her strength and backbone in it, it would have been very complicated
05:30for me.
05:30Let me be very clear to anyone who attempts to traffic in these images.
05:36You are now on notice of these court orders.
05:40You are on notice that these images were obtained illegally and that Ms. Barton does not consent
05:46to their distribution.
05:48In June 2017, Misha won a court order halting dissemination of the video and ordering her
05:55ex to stay 100 yards away from her.
05:57What was it like when you won this case in court?
06:02It was so amazing.
06:05Yeah.
06:05It's a wonderful feeling to know that you've done the right thing, even if you had to fight
06:10for it.
06:11It's amazing how different I feel from when we started this case.
06:15It's like night and day.
06:16I actually, I truly do feel stronger and victorious.
06:20Did it feel like the end?
06:21Like this was over.
06:23It actually did because, you know, it's like two permanent restraining orders.
06:28I felt safe again and I felt like I had fought it out, which I had.
06:35I'm very happy with what the judge has decided.
06:37I think it's important that we just see like real justice happen here in this case.
06:42So, yeah, that's why that's so important to have a network of women who really stand up
06:47with each other.
06:48Right?
06:48Because if Lisa hadn't come along and if I hadn't had those people around, I don't know
06:52what I would have done.
06:53Since it's happened, I don't mind talking about it and informing other women because I think
06:59it's very important that women know their rights.
07:02It was such a relief to go before a judge who understood domestic violence and understood
07:09the issues and to have that lawyer and people there with me who also build you up and make
07:16you strong.
07:16I mean, are you still afraid?
07:19Probably a part of me.
07:21Yeah.
07:21But I don't live thinking about it all the time.
07:24But I suppose, yes, it'll always be there and an aggravation and an annoyance.
07:32And a shame that's potentially, you know, could rear its ugly head again.
07:37Like the way that we treat women who have been put through this process, the women of
07:43the sex tapes, is...
07:46They continue to get shamed after the fact in a way.
07:49And it's your fault and you should have known better.
07:52And it becomes who you are.
07:56And they also know that the rest of the world is not kind when it comes to women's sexuality.
08:02Right.
08:03For what?
08:05Like, for trusting someone enough to, like, be intimate with them?
08:09Like...
08:10I think we're lucky to be living in a time now, finally, when we can bring the discussion
08:16of feminism back up and women empowerment.
08:21There's strength in the discussion.
08:23Well, thanks.
08:24I really appreciate you talking about something that's, like, so just deeply dreadful.
08:31It takes a lot of courage to come out and say it.
08:34So thank you.
08:44The only reason why people can get away with revenge porn in the first place is because
08:49the victims, they're considered part of the problem.
08:52They're considered the ones who created this scenario for themselves.
08:56We shame women when their sexuality becomes public, whether or not they want it to.
09:02Not too long ago, people were able to get away with this way more easily.
09:07Now, I think Misha's story shows that people who are peddling other women's vulnerability
09:13are going to have to think twice because the law really is on our side.
09:17.
