Lucy Clode found fame overnight when her messages to James Franco went viral. The Newcastle woman was on holiday with her mum when she was 17 when she started chatting to the world-famous actor over Instagram and Facebook messenger.
Franco asked whether she had a boyfriend and wondered whether she wanted to meet up. Despite sending her a few photos to prove she was actually talking to the Pineapple Express actor, Lucy binned him off and told him to hit her up when she turned 18.
Four years since that random encounter and Lucy still suffers online abuse from angry trolls.
Writing on her blog, Ms Clode wrote: "Having my unfortunate 15 minutes of fame brought along a wave of abuse which has been pretty consistent for the past four years.
"No one knew that this has been part of my life for the last four years and I think it is time to raise awareness to this issue. Not to give the misogynistic keyboard warriors attention but to realise this isn't okay and people shouldn't have to suffer with this in silence.
"To be totally honest, it took me the longest time to realise this was not ok. I thought I absolutely deserved it. Isn't that stupid?
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"I hope no one ever feels this way. You do not deserve for people who have never met you or even heard your voice to make you feel any less valuable."
Lucy hopes her story can make people realise that if they're targeted online there are a few things to remember.
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"I always told myself it didn't affect me or that I couldn't do anything about what was happening," she wrote. "But these people are often breaking laws and can be reported. If you do not feel comfortable doing that, talk to someone. I spoke to teachers, lecturers and my friends."
The geography student added that these trolls have no idea who she is and reckons most of her attackers are 'not happy within themselves'.
Because of her age at the time of the Franco encounter, the actor copped a bit of flak for trying it on with someone technically underage (age of consent in New York is 16 but it cannot be with anyone more than four years older than the teen).
When asked about it, Franco said: "It's the way that people meet each other today, but what I've learned - I guess because I'm new to it - is you don't know who's on the other end.
"You get a feel for them, you don't know who you're talking to. I used bad judgement and I learned my lesson."
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Featured Image Credit: Lucy Clode Instagram/PA
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Feels, Bullying