Madison Beer is ‘reclaiming her story’ with release of memoir

Madison Beer is revisiting her past and telling a cautionary tale with the release of her new memoir ‘The Half of It.’ The 24-year-old singer and songwriter is telling her story of rising to fame at a young age, social media, and how it has impacted her mental health.

‘The Half of It’ was released on April 25 and is described as a chronological look at the past decade of her life spent in the spotlight. Beer became famous overnight in 2012 at the age of 13, after her Youtube cover of Etta James’ ‘At Last’ was shared on social media by Justin Bieber.

Beer’s Rise to fame

She was immediately signed to a music label and her social media following soared. Along with the fame came a slurry of online hate and death threats.

At 15 years old a private nude video she sent her hometown crush via Snapchat a year earlier was leaked. It wasn’t until six years later Beer realized she was a victim in the situation.

“I definitely feel like I’m reclaiming my story, and that’s the mindset I had going into it, but it is still intimidating and scary,” Beer told Yahoo! News about releasing the book.

Beer writes about her experiences with suicidal ideations, sexual assault, substance abuse, and being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

“It’s not easy to open up and talk about these things,” she continued. “Having your trauma on such a public scale — to have people talk about it and ask questions and stuff — can definitely be uncomfortable and weird. That’s why I’m just trying to be patient with myself throughout this whole process.”

Connecting with readers

Beer also feels that opening up wasn’t easy but it’s what is right for her.

“Writing it was a very emotional experience,” she explained.

“I’ve opened up about my mental health and my struggles a lot over the years and it’s given me a greater purpose in life — [one] that I never really knew was one of my purposes. I’ve been able to connect with people in such a real, beautiful, special way.”

The memoir also includes a series of journal exercises for the reader, which Beer selected herself.

“I just felt like this was the right place to do it. I want to be able to talk to people on a bigger scale. It just all kind of felt right to me,” she explained.