Stephen Bear is continuing to trend on Twitter today following Georgia Harrisons allegations that he leaked explicit footage of her filmed without her consent. Bear denies the allegations but is facing further backlash after telling his followers that he ‘was tempted’ to stage a fake suicide attempt in order to garner sympathy.
Posting on Instagram from his holiday in Dubai, Bear laughed into the camera before admitting, ‘I was so tempted to do the ultimate narcissist move and make everyone feel sorry for me. All I’d have to do [is] get a bit of rope, sling it round my neck, throw it off a ledge and get one of my mates to save me. I could easily set that up, and all of you people would then back track.’
Bear has been documenting his holiday and reaction to the news in detail since Harrison went public with her allegation. Posting videos on Instagram mocking her and living it up in Dubai, he has consistently complained about the backlash he’s received following Harrisons complaint, which he says includes death threats. He has also denied being involved with the videos release, telling The Sun 'I don't even want to talk about it - it's so silly. I've spoken to the girl saying stop making up silly rumours. Everyone's just got to calm down. People saying someone's name for clout, it's just dumb.'
Harrison has now tweeted that she’s no longer allowed to comment on the situation, presumably for legal reasons after telling followers that police had already gathered evidence in her favour.
While sending death threats to anyone is never acceptable, many have found Bear’s reaction to the trolling completely abhorrent. Pointing to the fact that 51% of revenge porn victims contemplate suicide, one social media user tweeted to thousands of likes:
‘Stephen Bear saying that people criticising him for leaking a private video could result in him committing suicide as if hundreds of women haven’t killed themselves due to private images and videos of them being shared by boys who don’t understand consent..’
Another shared a series of screenshots of news articles about the long term trauma associated with revenge porn and the number of women who experience suicidal thoughts because of it, adding: ‘Stephen bear exposing footage of him and Georgia Harrison is revolting and for him to talk about suicide on his Instagram story and say he’s too strong for that and still laugh and joke is next level. Revenge porn kills!!!’
Harrison has also responded to the video now circulating on Twitter, adding that he has also posted a series of disrespectful videos from his holiday in Dubai – where he currently is – ‘grabbing women’s private parts in a club’ while dressed in traditional Arab clothing.
With thousands of people commenting on this ongoing story and millions watching it playout on social media, how the justice department handle this case moving forward will prove to be vitally important for cases of alleged revenge porn and victims in future.
‘If this man is allowed to get away with filming private sexual acts in a trusted environment, then selling the footage online victims everywhere will feel like it’s not worth pursuing prosecution,’ Harrison tweeted noting the public attention on her case. ‘I will do everything to get justice for me and all future victims, male or female.’
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