NYT film critic says "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" actor Amandla Stenberg sent her 'bullying' DM after negative review

• NYT journalist Lena Wilson said actor Amandla Stenberg DMed her over a film review.
• Wilson revealed Stenberg sent her "bullying" DMs over her review of "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies."

New York Times film critic Lena Wilson said actor Amandla Stenberg sent her a "bullying" DM in response to a review she wrote of Stenberg's newest film, "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies."

In a TikTok video posted on August 18, Wilson shared a screenshot of a message from Amandla Stenberg's verified account: "ur review was great, maybe if u had gotten ur eyes off my tits you could've watched the movie!"

"Unfathomably weird to get 'I don't want you in the locker room while I'm changing' bullying from a whole other lesbian," read Wilson's caption.

"For context, I reviewed 'Bodies, Bodies, Bodies' for The New York Times and didn't like it. Ironically, I praised the acting, though," she said.

"I am devastated to have received this message in the first place. I was genuinely a huge fan of hers," she continued, "but I'm posting it because I don't want this person who has more social power than me to think that it's f----- okay to do something like this."

Stenberg's comment appeared to be referencing a line in Wilson's review that read: "the only thing that really sets 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' apart is its place in the A24 hype machine, where it doubles as a 95-minute advertisement for cleavage and Charli XCX's latest single."

Hours after Wilson posted the DM to TikTok, Stenberg took to her Instagram Stories to offer her take, saying she thought Wilson would find her message funny.

"I'm receiving a lot of commentary on the internet for being a very naughty girl and for sending a DM that I thought was hilarious," she said. "I thought because Lena is gay — I am also gay — I thought that as gay people we would both find this comment funny."

Stenberg, who said she's often experienced sexualization since she was a teen, continued, "I know when I'm wearing a tank top there's going to be cleavage because I have boobs. So I knew that this comment was probably mostly directed towards me."

"I think that Lena was trying to make a commentary about A24 sexualizing me — sexualizing my body, exploiting young women — in order to sensationalize them to make their media more popular," she said. " ... I can tell you that I wore this tank top in this movie because me and the costume designer thought that it fit the character well."

"Lena, I thought your review was hilarious. I thought my DM was funny. I did not mean to harass you. I do not wish you any harm. You're allowed to have your criticisms on my work," Stenberg continued, "and I'm allowed to have my criticisms of your work."

Wilson declined to comment, and Stenberg did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.