Paparazzi may be a pain but at least you can see them. Not so for the hackers stealing nude pictures of celebrities and spilling them online.
Who's next?
For the second time in less than a month, another load of intimate photos turned up on websites that traffic in this sort of thing, targeting women celebs such as Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Hudgens, Rihanna, Jenny McCarthy, Kate Bosworth, Mary-Kate Olsen, Avril Lavigne, Hayden Panettiere, Lake Bell and others.
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At least two women, Gabrielle Union and Meagan Good,
have confirmed the photos, which appeared over the weekend and were
quickly taken down, are authentic, and they are furious. Union's legal
team is reported to be in contact with the FBI, which is investigating the earlier leak.
Union described the hackers who stole topless photos she sent to her new husband, basketball star Dwyane Wade, as "vultures." She's the victim of digital "atrocities," she said in a statement over the weekend to TMZ.
"It
has come to our attention that our private moments, that were shared
and deleted solely between my husband and myself, have been leaked by
some vultures," the statement said. "I can't help but to be
reminded that since the dawn of time women and children, specifically
women of color, have been victimized, and the power over their own
bodies taken from them. These atrocities against women and children
continue worldwide."
Good posted on her Instagram page Sunday that she's "definitely in shock' and "saddened."
"But
I 'choose' not to give the persons responsible my power," she said.
"For everyone who's reposting the leaked nudes? You should be ashamed of
yourself."
But since it keeps happening, and since many people re-posted them, clearly shame has no role in this business.
The new pictures originally appeared on Reddit and the image-sharing site 4chan but were quickly removed. Reddit has banned the landing page where users shared leaked images of naked celebrities.
This latest spill comes after intimate photos of other celebs, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst, were stolen from their personal Apple accounts and posted online.
Some of them were fake, but as many as 100 stars were targeted in the leak, now under investigation by the FBI and by Apple.
Meanwhile, Kardashian has advised fellow celebs to be more vigilant with privacy controls on their devices.
"I
think it's a wake-up call for people to make sure they have every
privacy setting," she said earlier this month. "It seems like there are a
lot of people that love to spend their time hacking peoples'
information and that's just a scary thing."