Grace Tame has opened up about a controversial photo of her sitting with a bong, outlining how she battled demons after being sexually abused as a teenager by a teacher and suffers ongoing personal trauma.
The photo showed a 19-year-old Ms Tame sitting on a couch with a large bong smiling with her eyes closed as she played on her phone.
The picture was seized upon by her critics on Monday last week, who found it buried in her Instagram feed, and resurfaced just as the Australian of the Year was criticised by the Prime Minister’s wife Jenny Morrison for having poor manners.
‘Australian of the Year?’ one person commented next to the eight-year-old picture which was deleted by Tame, now 27, after questions from Daily Mail Australia.
Other Australian media outlets who published the bong photo include 7News, news.com.au, The Herald Sun and Brag Media.
On Saturday Ms Tame shared a detailed open letter on Twitter, which quickly went viral.
Grace Tame has called out the media for her now infamous bong photo, outlining how being sexually abused as a teenager by a teacher resulted in a path of self-destruction
The former Australian Of The Year felt she had been ‘let down’ by some sections of the media who attempted to discredit her in her eyes
‘To every media outlet who sought to discredit me by publishing THAT photo, although my humour and strength remain intact, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t let me down,’ her letter began.
‘Not just as an individual, but more so as an advocate of the survivor community.
‘At every point — on the national stage, I might add — I’ve been completely transparent about all the demons I’ve battled in the aftermath of child sexual abuse; drug addiction, self-harm, anorexia and PTSD, among others. You just clearly haven’t been listening.
‘Whilst we must acknowledge the harm that drugs can cause, if we want to have an OPEN and HONEST discussion about child sexual abuse in this country, we must also have an open and honest discussion about trauma and what that can look like.’
Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Ms Tame penned a detailed open letter, which quickly went viral
The controversial photo shows a 19-year-old Ms Tame sitting on a couch with a large bong smiling with her eyes closed as she plays on her phone
Ms Tame’s Twitter thread went onto state that many victims refuse to speak out as they fear the consequences
Ms Tame then went onto explain how child sexual abuse if often different as the offenders are manipulative and sophisticated
In a revealing thread, the Tasmanian resident revealed she felt she was to blame after she was raped at the age of 15
She concluded by stressing the importance of all victims having the courage to tell their story
Her comments come after child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said he hoped Ms Tame would ‘come out as the former Australian of the Year and send a message to young people on cannabis use, particularly given the devastating toll it has on their mental health’.
‘I think for some young people it could normalise, glamorise and potentially sanitise the use of marijuana and that is not, obviously, the intention of Grace Tame … but I think that could be a side effect,’ he said.
In her letter, Ms Tame said ‘we must acknowledge the harm that drugs can cause’.
Ms Tame said that substances, in many cases of childhood sexual abuse, ‘are PART of the crime’.
‘When the man who abused me first tried to rape me, he used alcohol to stupefy me. I’d only been drunk twice in my life before that,’ she wrote.
‘Perpetrators often use substances in grooming and offending, first to lower inhibitions, and second to build a conspiracy with the target which prevents them from reporting.
‘Survivors fear authorities will zero in on the substance use instead of the wider complexities of psychological manipulation – which are much harder to prove and explain.
‘Drugs feature in the broader story of abuse, during and after. They feed into and compound the many layers of guilt and confusion. Later they become a familiar, go-to means of escape.’
Tame, who was groomed and repeatedly raped by her 58-year-old maths teacher from the age of 15, said for a long time she blamed herself for what had happened.
‘In the years that followed, I beat myself up relentlessly. I thought everyone else around me blamed me too. To cope, I engaged in activities I deemed befitting of a person as worthless as I deemed myself to be,’ she wrote.
The former Australian Of The Year initially responded to her widely-circulated bong photo by launching yet another attack on PM Scott Morrison.
She reposted the photo to Twitter with the tongue-in-cheek caption: ‘Alright, I confess, we were doing a cover of ‘April Sun in Cuba’. On the oboe.’
Tame’s reference to the Dragon song was a dig at Mr Morrison who played a ukulele rendition of the 1977 hit during a recent pre-election interview on 60 Minutes.
Mr Morrison raised eyebrows after he whipped out the miniature guitar and played the song in front of his wife and two daughters.
Grace Tame has a number of high profile fans, notably media identities Wil Anderson and Lisa Wilkinson
The ukelele is the national instrument of Hawaii and Mr Morrison’s playing of one evoked memories of his poorly-timed holiday to the Pacific islands during the nation’s Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020.
Images of Mr Morrison living it up in Hawaii during Australia’s crisis were a public relations disaster for the Prime Minister.
Her explanation came after her media ally Lisa Wilkinson slammed attacks on the 27-year-old as ‘utterly deplorable.’
The Project host claimed constant undermining of Ms Tame was ‘designed to say to any woman striving for change: step out of line/question the status quo & we’re coming for you’.
Wilkinson has been a vocal supporter of Ms Tame and fellow advocate for survivors of sexual abuse Brittany Higgins for their unwavering campaigning.
She posted a gushing tribute to Ms Tame after she was criticised for giving Scott Morrison a frosty reception at The Lodge in Canberra last month.
‘Thank you for always speaking your truth. Thank you for never wavering from your passionate fight for justice for survivors of sexual assault,’ the media identity wrote on Instagram.
It comes as Immigration Minister Alex Hawke responded to conspiracy theories claiming the bong photo was a ‘hit job’ executed by the Federal government.
‘I saw some people on Twitter start to say the government did it. I don’t believe that at all,’ the senior minister said on 3AW radio on Tuesday.
‘The media have just as much motive in these things and public issues on pursuing people. They do it to politicians and public figures all the time. I don’t think it’s relevant. I don’t think it’s necessary’.
Mr Hawke said Ms Tame shouldn’t be judged for the 2014 image which was discovered in plain sight on her Instagram page over the weekend.
‘Everybody understands Grace Tame’s story and the things that she’s been through,’ the immigration minister said.
Tame was awarded Australian of the Year in 2021 for leading a campaign for a legal change that allowed sex abuse survivors to speak out.
She was groomed and molested by her mathematics teachers when she was just 15.
Ms Tame initially deleted the image after Daily Mail Australia made an inquiry on Monday but has since reposted it to Twitter and received thousands of likes.
The viral image sparked an outpouring of support from the both the Australian public and high-profile figures including comedians, musicians and politicians.
The photo has renewed debate around whether personal use of cannabis should be legalised in Australia, after a 2019 survey found 40 per cent of citizens backed the move.
Richard Denniss, a chief economist at the Australia Institute, took to Twitter to share his two cents on the contentious cannabis debate.
‘The lack of photos of me smoking bongs at 20 is due only to the high cost of film photography in 1990 rather than any shortage of bongs in my life back then,’ he tweeted on Monday night.
‘While I think private photos should stay private, thanks @TamePunk for leading our debates again. Let’s legalise it #auspol.’
Other commentators said the photo showed that marijuana use was commonplace, so prohibition should be overturned.
Many others were quick to jump to the activist’s defence as several hashtags, including #PutYourBongsOut, popped up in her honour.
Some went as far as suggesting the photo had given her more credibility, or made her ‘even cooler’ than before.
Comedian Wil Anderson was among the most outspoken supporters and posted an old photo of himself pictured with a bong as online debate raged.
‘It’s hard but I forgive Grace,’ he joked in a follow-up tweet.
Ms Tame’s now famous ‘side eye’ made headlines after she was giving the prime minister and his wife Jenny at a morning tea at The Lodge before Australia Day (pictured)
Comedian Wil Anderson (pictured) was among the most outspoken of Ms Tame’s supporters and posted an old photo of himself pictured with a bong as online debate raged
Ms Tame (pictured) deleted the image after Daily Mail Australia made an inquiry on Monday
Anderson echoed the support by others by sharing their tweets, including Australian musician Ben Lee.
‘She just keeps getting better,’ the four-time ARIA award winning singer and songwriter wrote.
The Project host Peter Helliar joked the picture could even get Ms Tame a second nomination for Australian of the Year.
The massive wave of support for Ms Tame extended to the world of politics.
‘Putting out photos of the much respected former Australian of the Year partying as a youth is beyond pathetic,’ Darcy Byrne, mayor of Sydney’s Inner West Council wrote.
‘Grace Tame’s manners are fine, it’s the politicians scraping the bottom of the barrel that need to learn about respect.’
Port Phillip deputy mayor Tim Baxter tweeted: ‘I’m the Deputy Mayor and I smoked bongs as a teenager. And I’ve still never been as cool as Grace Tame.’
Alex Turnbull, the son of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also weighed into the national debate.
‘Going after Grace Tame is extremely risky for any Liberal Party members under 40 especially some people in the house and senate. I’ll leave it at that. Don’t start stuff you can’t finish.’
But not everyone jumped to Ms Tame’s defence.
‘Good grief this person was Australian of the year, we need to take a long, hard look at how she was selected and who selected her’, a reader commented online.
Another added: ‘Excellent response by the PM’s wife. Grace is really losing her message in her behaviour.
Ms Tame has been consistently been in the news headlines over the past week, after completing her term as Australian of the Year and delivering a rousing speech at the National Press Club.
Ms Tame was seen giving Mr Morrison a less than friendly handshake with a scowl on her face before throwing him an icy sideways glance (pictured)
On 60 Minutes last Sunday night, Mr Morrison’s wife Jenny offered her opinion on Ms Tame’s now famous ‘side eye’ when greeting them at a morning tea at The Lodge before Australia Day.
Ms Tame was seen giving Mr Morrison a less than friendly handshake with a scowl on her face before throwing him an icy sideways glance.
‘I just found a little bit disappointing, because we were welcoming her in our home,’ Mrs Morrison said. ‘I just wish the focus had been on all the incredible people coming in.’
‘I respect people that want to change things, stand up for their beliefs, and are strong, but I still think there are manners and respect.’
She was asked whether she wanted her daughters to look up to outspoken advocates such as Ms Tame.
‘I want my daughters to grow up to be fierce, strong, independent, amazing people. And I think they can still do that and show kindness to other people and be polite and have manners,’ Mrs Morrison replied.
