It seems like every time I open up the Internet browser, there’s some sort of news surrounding leaked nudes of celebrities. To this day I’m sure many can recount the drama of the leaked photos of Kim Kardashian and former “High School Musical” star/Disney darling Vanessa Hudgens. And we keep hearing new names.
As you may have heard, there’s been an outbreak of hacked iCloud accounts of prominent female public figures — Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Aubrey Plaza and the Olsen twins — meaning there’s an ongoing cycle of this Internet-era exposure. The hacker responsible for this round of leaks made national headlines a few weeks ago when they posted a list to 4chan, a simple forum where users post comments and share images, of 101 female celebrities they claimed to have nude photos of.
Those hacks aren’t the only recent example of people using social media and the Internet to target female celebrities. Though it turned out to be an empty threat, the British actress Emma Watson was targeted by users of a website called SocialVevo last month. The attack came after Watson delivered an inspiring speech at the U.N. headquarters regarding a new gender equality initiative called HeForShe.
This drew the attention of the 4chan community, who threatened to leak Watson’s personal nude photos. We feel for you, Hermione Granger. Five points awarded to Gryffindor for not allowing these worthless immortals to phase you or your brilliant and classy campaign.
While Watson handled the scandal gracefully, photo leaking is an egregious invasion of privacy and must be stopped. Some may argue that there would be no leaks if the pictures hadn’t been taken in the first place, but the bottom line is that the personal property of individuals was taken from them illegally.
All Internet users must shoulder the responsibility of refraining from adding to the problem. Though it may be easy to access these pictures, the more you look at them, the more power you put in the hands of the perpetrators. You are just as cruel as the hackers when you click on these links; your views warrant their transgressions.
One of the victims of the nude photo hacks, Jennifer Lawrence, took to Vanity Fair last week in response to the controversy. Calling photo hacking a sex crime, Lawrence said, “Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this. It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world.”
For all of the sad and lonely people whose life’s desire is to see naked pictures of J-Law, I have something to say to you: Instead of ruining these innocent people’s already stressful — and very public — lives, why don’t you and your bold self-esteem just confront those celebrities and ask them for pictures in person? You will most likely get what you deserve in return — a nice slap to the cheek.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Audrëy Rodriguez at audrey.rodriguez@colorado.edu.
