Jennifer Lawrence, one of the victims of an iCloud hack that leaked nude images of female celebrities, is finally speaking out about the massive violation of privacy she experienced.
“Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense,” Lawrence, the Hunger Games actress, says in a forthcoming Vanity Fair interview. “You should cower with shame.”
See Also: For Once, The Entire Internet Isn’t Blaming The Victims Of This Nude Celebrity Photo Leak
In late August, someone accessed iCloud accounts of numerous female celebrities and distributed their private photos to 4chan and Reddit in what some online jokers called “the fappening,” riffing off the slang term for masturbation.
The images circulated widely, sparking a conversation around Internet privacy and security, as well as blatant Internet sexism and the often toxic anonymous communities that thrive on 4chan and Reddit.
Apple denied any iCloud security breach, instead blaming it on a “very targeted attack” by a person or people who presumably managed to guess or brute-force private login information for various users. After the compromising photos were leaked online, Apple promised to tighten security and better educate users on how iCloud actually works.
Apple may not have been directly responsible for the breach, but it happened, in part, because it can be confusing and difficult to protect your personal data in iCloud.
See Also: How Apple Made Its Users Vulnerable To iCloud Theft
Unlike other celebrities who spoke out condemning the attack, Lawrence—arguably the best-known of the bunch—remained silent. But in the Vanity Fair cover story, she blames sites like 4chan for what she calls a “sex crime.”
“It is not a scandal,” she says according to a summary prepared by the magazine. “It is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change.”
“That’s why these Web sites are responsible,” Lawrence continues. “Just the fact that somebody can be sexually exploited and violated, and the first thought that crosses somebody’s mind is to make a profit from it. It’s so beyond me. I just can’t imagine being that detached from humanity. I can’t imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside.”
Lead photo by Gage Skidmore
