Bella Thorne and former fiancé ask people to stop asking about their breakup: 'This is a personal matter'

Going through a breakup is never easy, and Bella Thorne is pleading for privacy while she does just that following the end of her relationship with fiancé Benjamin Mascolo.

The two were together for three years. After meeting in Lake Como, Italy, they went Instagram official in June 2019. He proposed in April 2021, as they ended production on the film Time Is Up, a romantic drama in which they co-starred. On Thursday, People reported they had split, citing an unnamed source who blamed conflicting schedules. Mascolo seemed to confirm the breakup in a statement about how relationships go through a cycle of life and death. "It was meant to be, and it was beautiful," the last line read, "I wish only the best to this person, and will always be there for her."

The Famous in Love actress shared her own reaction Friday, with a short post to her Instagram Story. "I broke up with Ben for my [own] reasons," she wrote alongside a photo of herself. "Please stop asking. This is a personal matter."

Mascolo then reposted Thorne's plea on his own account and added, "Please respect her space."

Thorne, 24, has grown up in the media spotlight, having appeared in her first film when she was 6. By the time she was a teenager, she was co-starring in her own show, the Disney Channel's Shake It Up, alongside Zendaya. She explained her frustration, and the idea that she shouldn't be allowed to keep some things private if she's open about others via social media, in a February 2021 interview with Harper's Bazaar UK.

"You can't f***ing win," she said. "If I get rid of social media, it means they've won. I just have to keep being myself even if it gets me in trouble. I have to stay myself. We view women as objects, so when you're a female celebrity, it's double because we also view celebrities as objects. The Britney documentary is a good reference."