The second wave of pictures started on Friday with Hope Solo and Lake Bell being added to the growing list of victims of the hack, and ramped up on Saturday with Vanessa Hudgens, Kim Kardashian, Dove Cameron, and Avril Lavigne among those with alleged pictures hitting the Internet.
Pictures of a woman that appears to be Rihanna began appearing on Sunday.
It’s unclear what prompted the second wave following weeks of relative inactivity from the people behind the hack and subsequent leak.
After pictures of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and other celebrities were leaked several weeks ago, few graphic images emerged, leaving many users on Reddit and other websites to debate frequently whether any other pictures would emerge. Activity on Anon-IB, the 4chan offshoot where many of the photos have been posted first, started up again this past week, and in retrospect seemed to signal the impending second wave. The pictures are typically posted to Anon-IB or 4chan then quickly taken and posted to other websites, such as Reddit’s image sharing website Imgur. |
The Fappening is a name given to the situation by Reddit users. The subreddit The Fappening was a hub of activity related to the leaks for over a week before site administrators banned it, but multiple subreddits with the word “Fappening” popped up to replace that subreddit. There was also a “Fappening Report” account that appeared to be the source of some low-level leaks, mostly of celebrities fully or partially clothed.
Rihanna, as with many of the women targeted in the second wave, has not commented on the purported pictures.