Hilary Duff Goes off About ‘Disgusting’ Child Trafficking Conspiracy

Hilary Duff found herself at the center of a bizarre child trafficking conspiracy theory on Saturday, leading to the former Lizzie McGuire star’s name trending on Twitter all day. Before the situation could get any further out of hand than it already has, Duff slammed the ideas as “actually disgusting” and suggested people take a break from their phones. The theory was born after people spotted a nude photo of her 8-year-old son Luca Cruz Comrie on Instagram.

Duff said she understands that everyone is “bored [as f—]” right now during the coronavirus pandemic, but called the theory “actually disgusting.” The person who instigated the theory “should take a break from their damn phone,” she wrote, adding, “maybe get a hobby.” Thousands of her fans have voiced their support, although many other replies continued pushing the theory.

The idea that Duff, 32, would be involved in a child trafficking ring came from a now-deleted Twitter thread that went viral. The tweets included a recent alleged screenshot from Duff’s Instagram Story, showing a picture of Luca lying on a bed in the nude when he was younger. In another Instagram Story post, Duff shared a video showing several pictures of her children taped to a wall. It included the photo of Luca, now censored. Both of these Instagram Story posts have since expired but were saved on Twitter. While most of Duff’s fans thought the picture was nothing more nefarious than an image used to embarrass Luca, others let their minds go to much darker places.

Duff shares Luca with ex-husband Mike Comrie. She and husband Matthew Koma are also parents to Banks Violet Bair, who was born in October 2018. While she has published several intimate photos of her children on Instagram, Duff is famously protective of their privacy. In February, she published an entire confrontation she had with a paparazzo who was taking photos of Luca’s soccer game. While on The Talk, Duff said she felt a “responsibility” to speak up on behalf of herself and the other patents at the game.

“I feel like since I bring the paparazzi there, it’s my responsibility to be like, ‘Hey, give space,’ or ‘Back off, you got some shots. Leave,’” Duff explained on The Talk. “This wasn’t cool with me and that’s my opinion that it’s wrong. Whatever universe that I’m in, I’m gonna protect my kids — and the other kids.”