Ariel Winter draws criticism with Memorial Day bikini photos

May 31 (UPI) -- Ariel Winter drew criticism this week after captioning new bikini photos "Happy #MemorialDay."

The 19-year-old actress faced backlash after sharing the series of revealing pictures on the holiday Monday.

"What has that got to do with Memorial Day? Just an excuse to get half naked," one person wrote in the comments.

"You look good but this is really inappropriate. Memorial Day isn't about you," another added.

Winter followed up her bikini shots with a post reading, "To our men and women in uniform past, present and future -- God bless you and thank you." She personally thanked servicemen and women in the caption.

"Could not be more grateful to all of the men and women who risk their lives to protect ours and our freedom. We are all forever indebted to your service. Thank you," she wrote.

Winter is no stranger to criticism, having been in the public eye since she was a child. She said in a new interview with Refinery29 that she learned to ignore others' opinions and focus on herself.

"I went through a lot of hate online, so I tried to change myself for a really long time. But people just kept hating on me no matter what I did. I decided that instead of pleasing these other people, I'll just spend that time pleasing myself," the star said.

"Those people are going to be rude to me regardless of what I do, so I should just try and be happy with what I am," she explained.

Winter plays Alex Dunphy on the ABC sitcom Modern Family, which was renewed for an eighth season in 2016.