Los Angeles: In one of the largest ever leaks of private data, nude photos purportedly showing many top Hollywood celebrities, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and pop star Rihanna were circulated on social media over the weekend. Reports say that the photos had been obtained by hacking Apple’s iCloud accounts. Experts believe the hackers could have gained secret access directly into phones.
The leaked photos also prompted angry reactions from the stars who had been exposed. “This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” Lawrence’s agent said.
Among the celebrities whose pictures allegedly were stolen were Avril Lavigne, Amber Heard, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere and Hope Solo, according to Mashable.
Reports said among the other starlets targeted were Hillary Duff, Jenny McCarthy, Kaley Cuoco, Kate Upton, Kate Bosworth, Keke Palmer and Kim Kardashian. Rumours online are claiming that the final list could include over 400 celebrities. Some of the images however, have been dismissed as fakes.
“These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*” tweeted singer Victoria Justice.
Horror movie actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whose intimate photos were leaked, acknowledged her frustration. “To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves,” she tweeted. “Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked.”
The images were posted on anonymous image-posting website 4Chan.
Few hours later, a post appeared on social media with an anonymous user saying he or she was willing to accept cash in exchange for a video showing a famous actress perform a sex act.
