BY Alejandro Feregrino-. How to get over the scandal of a sex tape? Mexican actress Michelle Vieth has an answer: “You learn to live with it.”
Michelle Vieth in 2021. (Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images)
She knows better than anyone what it means to live with that stigma. At the peak of her career and after a painful divorce, someone – she says it is her ex-husband Héctor Soberón – uploaded a recording to the internet of her having sex with a man whose face could not be seen or watched hearing was voice.
At that time, media legislation did not regulate the internet, which has changed in recent years. Because of this, he has decided to file a lawsuit against Soberón. Now it’s clear what happened revenge pornand wants to set a precedent.
“When it’s my turn to be the speaker, and if I was the first to experience a case like this, it was revenge pornography, I’d like to be the last,” she told the Hoy Program this week.
Michelle Viethen in 2003. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
The origin of the video
In 2004, Michelle Vieth was at the peak of her career. With several years of uninterrupted starring in productions such as Amigas y rivales, Soñadoras and Clase 406, she had become one of the favorites on the Canal de las Estrellas.
But while her career was on the rise, her personal life took a nosedive.
Their love story was like something out of a soap opera. She rose to fame with her first novel, My little naughty, in which she starred at the age of 18 with Héctor Soberón, an actor 13 years her senior with a solid career, with whom she quickly fell in love.
They reached the altar in 2002, but the marriage didn’t last long and two years later they announced their divorce. Soberón accused his ex-wife of being unfaithful, and months later an intimate video of Michelle with a man whose face was never seen thanks to the editing came to light.
A war of declarations began. He said he was insulted and betrayed and that Michelle remained silent. Meanwhile, public opinion and some media did their thing and ruined his reputation.
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Finally, in 2017, he decided to speak out and give his version of what happened. In a post on her social media, she explained that the man who leaked the video to the press was actually her ex-husband.
“He so cowardly violated my rights, my human rights, especially my sexual rights, when he decided to edit, remove his face and voice, and combine multiple videos into a single video and profit from it.”
Now, 18 years after that life-changing moment, he has decided to take legal action. It is not money that drives them, but the need for justice.
“You learn to live with it”
Soberón has always denied being the one who appears in the video, let alone the one who takes part in it. Even after news of the lawsuit broke, he offered an interview to El Universal, insisting he had nothing to do with it.
“He has been dealing with this issue for 20 years and has said on several occasions that he has no way of proving his testimony and yet he wants to take legal action?”
But Michelle has chosen to go to the extreme: “I no longer have the fear I had when I was 15, 16 years old (…) It’s not something I’ve already overcome or forgotten . No, it’s something you learn to live with.”
The price of the scandal
At just 24, Michelle had to deal with a divorce, an unprecedented sex scandal in Mexico and the fallout from fame.
Due to the great success that “My little naughty” meant, the actress went from a complete stranger to the star of the hour overnight and, precisely because of this inexperience, did not know how to deal with everything that success entails .. and in the The following years his relationship with some media collapsed.
Perhaps that’s why, when the scandal surrounding his videos erupted, he didn’t find the support he deserved when he saw his personal life so violated.
Over time, Michelle has managed to get her career back on track — and break free from the stigma this chapter of her life brought to her. He has participated in some soap operas and hosted magazine programs. Now, after 10 years with Televisión Azteca, she has returned to Televisa and is a regular on the morning show “Hoy”, takes part in the section “Las estrellas bailan” or hosts the program as a temporary guest to bridge an absence.