Brazilian model Aline Lima is inevitably on the receiving end of an online backlash after it was revealed that she rejected the advances of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Internet enveloping itself in a furious rage over her “selling her story” to the tabloids (despite Aline’s boyfriend actually being the one to tell the media about the incident which, given the circumstances, you’d hardly blame him for doing so.)
Aline, who currently lives in Australia, reportedly sent Ronaldo a message on Instagram asking him if he had received fan mail from her boyfriend, who was (emphasis on the was) a huge supporter of the Portugal international. According to The Mirror, Ronaldo sent her the rather incongruous reply: “Can I have a photo when you are in the gym?”
Image Credit: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images
When Aline declined, Ronaldo sent another message, reading: “No one knows, baby. Quiet. I do not show anybody.” The 22-year-old has now been forced to defend herself over accusations that she sold her story to the press, taking to Instagram to post her response, which reads:
“So I just want to make things clear for all these people saying I was seeking attention or whatever. I would never do something like that just for publicity, if I want to get famous one day I’ll do it by my hard work and not with a story like this.
My boyfriend is actually the one who told the media and I don’t blame him, as he clearly was so disappointed at the fact that Ronaldo didn’t care about him, a fan of Ronaldo’s since he was a kid. I wish this story wasn’t out there, but I can’t do much about it now.
Ps: Alex is no longer a fan of Ronaldo’s, of course.”
The question here is what course of action would those harassing Aline have had her take? I’m pretty certain that if anyone found out that a world-class footballer had made a move on their girlfriend, they’d tell someone about it. And if that footballer had done so with the knowledge that she had a boyfriend, that someone would have definitely been a member of the press. If Aline would have overlooked her principles and slept with Ronaldo regardless of her boyfriend, then that would have also inevitably led to her receiving online abuse.
Basically, no one in this situation can do anything without receiving some form of abuse from strangers over the Internet, aside from Ronaldo who’s apparently allowed to go bed-hopping with the partners of us mere mortals while we angrily defend him in comments sections.
