4Chan Leaked Photos: Number Of Celebrities Hit By Nude Photo Scandal Climbs To More Than 100
Someone on 4chan has leaked photos of more than 100 celebrities nude or in various racy poses, and the list of those hit by the largest celebrity scandal ever continues to grow.
On Sunday, nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton found their way to 4chan, an image sharing board famous for its anything goes attitude. While it is still exactly clear where the 4chan leaked photos originated from, the hacker appeared to be selling them in exchange for Bitcoins.
After being posted on 4chan, the nude photos found their way to various Reddit and Imgur posts.
Starting with a handful of names, the hacker released more and more nude photos as well as a master list showing hundreds of names. Those hit by the 4chan leaked photos include Lea Michele, Aubrey Plaza, Candice Swanepoel, Hillary Duff, Kaley Cuoco, Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Kate Bosworth, Victoria Justice and Emily Browning. United States gymnastics star McKayla Maroney, who just turned 18 in December, is also included.
The current theory is that the hacker infilitrated the backup system iCloud to gain access to celebrities’ phone data.
“Also, this was not a single iCloud that was hacked. This was many dozens of iCloud backups that were downloaded and combed through for personal photos. For many of the photos, the celebrity pictured did not have their account breached—instead, the source was a boyfriend or friend who had the photos sent to their phone which was then backed up and broken into. Many of the photos were actually taken with a laptop or by another person, not a handheld device or by the celebrity themselves.”
Already a number of celebrities caught up in the nude photo scandal have spoken out. Ariana Grande and Victoria Justice have both denied that they are shown, saying the pictures are fake. Jennifer Lawrence confirmed that the nude photos of her are real, but promised to take action against the hacker.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy,” a spokesperson Lawrence said in a statement. “The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
The 4chan leaked photos could eventually lead to big consequences for the hacker. In other celebrity nude photo releases, authorities have worked hard to find those responsible and bring them to justice — which can be heavy handed. Christopher Chaney, who was convicted of releasing pictures of a number of celebrities including Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for his crimes.
