Madison Beer Reveals the Ex Behind Her Nude Leak Apologized for Hurting Her

• Madison Beer is looking back on the nude leak that rocked her personal life and professional career when she was just 15 years old
• She said in a new interview that she reconnected with the person who was responsible for sharing the footage online
• “I don’ t think he was being malicious,” she said of the unidentified boy, who she said reached out to apologize for hurting her

Madison Beer is ready to let go — especially when it comes to a trying time in her life and career. 

While speaking to Cosmopolitan for a digital cover published on Monday, April 28, the singer looked back on the time nude footage of her as teenager was leaked online, revealing she since reconnected with the person responsible.

“The boy who the whole nude situation happened with, he reached out to me and was like, ‘I had no idea that I hurt you like this. I’m so sorry,'” said Beer, 26, recalling how she felt both victimized by the former romantic partner who posted the images and shamed by others for sharing the explicit Snapchat messages. 

“I don’t know how it feels to be a 14-year-old boy receiving photos of a girl. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I don’t think he was being malicious showing them to his friends. He was a kid,” the “Make You Mine” singer told the outlet.

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Beer explained, “I’ve had to sit people down and be like, ‘Hey, you owe me an apology for what you did to me when I was a kid.’ And a lot of the other people from that time in my life — I just have completely severed my relationships with. I don’t care to make up with you or be cool with you.”

When it comes to dealing with all she’s been through in her personal life and professional career, Beer declared, “Sometimes you’ve got to just let it go.” 

“I tried to go the other way and kill myself, and don’t get me wrong, I still have those moments. But I was like, ‘I need to first prove all these people wrong. And second, maybe I can help someone out there who sees themselves in me in any way,’” she continued. 

“I like to think that everything I went through and continue to go through is because I’m strong enough to survive and tell the story,” the “Reckless” singer said. “Just because I’m okay with it now doesn’t mean I deserved to go through it.”

While Beer revealed how she has come to terms with the scandal, the leak had a profound impact on her — especially as she pursued a musical career after first gaining notoriety in 2012 when Justin Bieber shared one of her YouTube videos. 

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In 2023, she addressed the leak in her memoir, The Half of It, telling PEOPLE at the time, “I felt like this was the only appropriate place to speak on some of these topics.”

After her personal Snapchats went public, Beer felt she “wasn’t really protected at all.” She recalled, “No one cared to even jump in and be like, ‘This is a child, and we shouldn’t be sharing this video.’ ”

Beer also reflected on how a similar incident led to a classmate to “commit suicide over her nudes being sent around.”  

“I remember the boy who leaked it and sent it around, and the conversation was never like, ‘He’s a piece of s—.’ It was always like, ‘Well, she shouldn’t have sent those videos,’ ” she told PEOPLE. “I remember being super shocked by that, even as a 13 year old, because I was like, ‘This girl passed away. I feel like this is crazy that we’re still putting blame on her like she did something wrong.’ ”

However, Beer clarified at the time that she doesn’t “hold shame around this” and explained, “I don’t think any woman — or anyone in general — should. When we’re young and given a platform like Snapchat, what do you think is going to happen?”