Tom Hiddleston’s Instagram Account Hacked: The Latest In a Series of Celebrity Hacks
Tom Hiddleston’s Instagram account was hacked mere weeks after the actor joined the social media platform.
Hiddleston joined the photo-sharing site on August 9, kicking off his debut with a photo of himself dressed as Loki from “Thor: Ragnarok,” the latest film in the Marvel movie franchise. In his two weeks of use, the “Night Manager” actor has only followed his co-stars and, of course, his girlfriend Taylor Swift.
According to Business Insider, fans noticed strange activity on Hiddleston’s account when they saw unusual videos and an unknown Snapchat code was posted. The hackers took over the 35-year-old actor’s account about 9 a.m. on Friday.
Things became strange when Hiddleston’s account posted an off-brand image of a black and white hooded figure, then his profile bio was changed to, “TEAM.ERORR.4.0.4 @rjz @ikp @dr.rghx @u52 @x3azmii @p9j @x.hrb.”
Whoever took over Hiddleston’s account even teased his fans by promising that they would eventually give control back to the actor after making vague promises of, “I will you something important.” Luckily, Tom regained control of his account two hours after the initial hack and no strange posts have been reported since.
The “Avengers” actor and recent Taylor Swift love interest was one of the few celebrities to hold off on joining Instagram, now this recent hack may sour Hiddleston on the experience.
The Instagram hack came right after Hiddleston and “Thor: Ragnarok” co-star Chris Hemsworth visited a children’s hospital in Australia as their respective characters, Thor and Loki.
The pair made a stop at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane. The Los Angeles Times reported that they entertained children by letting them touch Thor’s hammer Mjolnir and played their movie personas perfectly. Children even got the chance to deliver some good-natured whacks to Hiddleston as Loki and the Englishman happily obliged.
Before the hack, Hiddleston posted about the visit on Instagram saying, “”Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor!” (i.e. everyone but the weirdo in the black suit). Unforgettable meeting all the children @ladycilentochildrenshospital. They’re the real heroes. #madepossiblebychf #juicedtv #ladycilentochildrenshospital”
Although it was very unfortunate that one half of Hiddleswift had his account hack, the Loki actor was more fortunate than other actors that have faced the same problem. Leslie Jones, star of “Ghostbusters” and “Saturday Night Live” had her website hacked Wednesday, August 24 in a devastating leak.
Jones, who recently returned home after covering the Rio 2016 Olympic games, suffered a serious breach of privacy from her website hack. The hackers posted her driver’s license, passport information, and revealed nude photos of the actress.
This comes after a stream of social media abuse aimed at Jones over the last month. Leslie has been the target of racial epithets on Twitter, faced criticism for her role in “Ghostbusters” as an MTA agent, and generally garnered hate because she is a well-known black actress who speaks her mind.
Hiddleston doesn’t appear to have the same amount of loss as Jones. He has already deleted the hacker posts and as of Saturday, the actor still only has four pictures posted to his account, including a photo taken with Hemsworth at the Australian hospital.
The “Crimson Peak“ star’s Instagram focuses mostly on promo shots of himself as Loki and one photo on set of the BBC series “Night Manager.” Hiddleston most likely created an account to help promote “Thor: Ragnarok,” set for release in November 2017.
However, Hiddleston could have also beefed up his social media presence to keep up with megastar girlfriend Taylor Swift. The actor has gained a considerable amount of attention since the couple revealed their relationship at the beginning of the summer.
Celebrity hacks are not uncommon, but it’s fortunate that Hiddleston’s breach was minor and his fans can continue to look forward to teasers for his films and insight into the actor’s life.
[Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP]
