Exclusive

LeAnn Rimes Gives Bullying the Bird in "Powerful Image" for the New F Word Campaign

Vice President of Brand Development for Friend Movement, Marco Gonzalez, tells E! News exclusively deets on the singer's shoot for the campaign

By Bruna Nessif, Senta Scarborough Jun 04, 2013 12:23 AMTags
LeAnn Rimes, Friend MovementCourtesy: Friend Movement

What does LeAnn Rimes think about bullying? She'll tell you with one finger.

The singer and actress has joined Glee's Darren Criss, Rumer Willis and a number of other celebs with The New F Word Campaign (launching tomorrow) for Friend Movement, an organization "created to help show positive anti-bully images through art and media," according to their website.

And Vice President of Brand Development for Friend Movement, Marco Gonzalez, tells E! News exclusively why he thought Rimes was perfect for this campaign.

"LeAnn's a great friend of mine and I've seen over the years how she's been bullied in the press, so I asked her right away to be a part of Friend Movement's anti-bullying campaign," he said, before noting that the star pulled through for her photo shoot regardless of feeling under the weather.

"On the day of her shoot, she was just getting over being sick and barely had a voice, but was booked to do Jimmy Kimmel. Like a true sport, she came over to our set straight from Kimmel, and rocked it out. She had a hard time keeping her middle finger up so our photographer Ryan Forbes had to tape her other fingers down with black tape."

Gonzalez continued, "We had a good laugh about it.  Even without much of a voice, LeAnn smiled her way through the shoot.  Her photo is definitely one of our most powerful images! I think her photo and the message behind it will resonate with many around the world who have been bullied."

The new photos for the campaign feature the big name celebs standing against a red background, while proudly giving the one-finger salute to the camera (which is blurred) with the words "Giving Bullying the Bird" printed across.

"The New F Word campaign is about creating an inner monologue with yourself," co-creator Elliot London tells E! News. "When you're bullied, we want you to think to yourself, 'F U, I'm fabulous the way I am.' We know it's a provocative campaign, but it's all about self empowerment."

The organization has also set up an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to do 10,000 photos in 90 days across 40 cities. Additionally, Friend Movement are holding a benefit concert featuring Rimes on July 1 at the El Rey Theatre.