Olivia Bentley was shamed for her hair loss.
The “Made in Chelsea” star, who suffered from alopecia as a teenager, defended Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock for his “inappropriate” joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s battle with the disease at the Oscars.
She told The Sun newspaper’s Fab Daily: ‘It was probably very hard for Will to witness the pain that Jada had already been through in learning to live with alopecia.
“I know what it feels like to be shamed for hair loss. I’ve experienced it myself and I can’t imagine how bad it can feel.”
The 26-year-old reality star revealed that her hair began falling out in clumps after she started taking birth control pills, causing her to become a victim of bullying.
Olivia said: “I was bullied and ridiculed because of my alopecia. This started shortly after I started taking the pill at 16.
“At first, my hair would fall out in clumps while I was in the shower or sometimes when I ran my hands through it.
“After a few weeks the bald spots got worse and my mom took me to the doctor and they told me it was alopecia.”
Bentley revealed that most of the time she tried to hide her bald spots under hats, wigs and hair extensions, but despite her attempts, she was still guilty of nasty comments.
She added: “When I was 17, I was devastated when a boy I was dating told me he wouldn’t have children with me because he didn’t want them to be bald.”
Olivia had managed to hide her alopecia from school, but when she joined the cast of Made in Chelsea at the age of 19, she was subjected to online abuse from trolls.
Bentley said: “People were constantly making nasty comments like, ‘Her hair looks like crap’ or ‘Why does her hair look like that?’
“I was even called a ‘bald bitch’ on Instagram after I spoke openly about my hair loss for the first time.”
The Celebs Go Dating star praised Jada for her bravery and decision not to hide behind a wig after announcing her alopecia diagnosis in 2018. He felt Rock’s comments at the Hollywood ceremony were unnecessary.
She concluded: “It did not warrant a slap in the face, but it did cause general outrage.
“Chris’ joke was clearly not funny, it was personal and it came at the wrong time. This was an unfair blow, she was attacked cruelly. A woman’s appearance should never be the butt of a joke.”
