Katharine McPhee responds to nude photo leak: 'No one deserves this kind of intrusion'
"I know when I feel best, so I have to fight the times when I don’t feel my best. I used to drive my poor ex-husband [Nick Cokas] crazy, because I was so thin and saying, 'Oh I'm fat.' I've moved away from that, thankfully, and I’ve grown up." — Katharine McPhee, on her body confidence, to Health
Katharine McPhee is fighting back.
The actress and singer, 33, filed suit in Los Angeles County Tuesday in response to intimate photos of her being published on pornographic websites after her phone got hacked.
“I was hacked sometime in the last few years, and along with other celebrities a few days ago, my private photos were blasted all over some sick and despicable websites,” McPhee tells PEOPLE exclusively. “The photos that are mine I am not ashamed of. I love my body and they were taken for a man I was deeply in love with, or for no one but myself. But what is also truly disgusting is that these sites include photos that do not belong to me, and are not of my body, and I’ve learned this happens continually.”
The Scorpion star seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief in the documents — in which she’s referred to as “Jane Doe” — obtained by LaWestMedia and alleges that she experienced “horror, shock, shame, mortification, hurt feelings, depression and feelings of powerlessness” following the publication of the images. McPhee claims in the papers that she “had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the photographs on her telephone and iCloud.” The publishers of the photos are named as “Roe Corp.”
“The constant exploitation of women with no recourse for these websites is absolutely abhorrent,” she continues in her statement. “These sites, which TMZ (thank you so much) brings more light and attention to by calling them out by name (shame on you), should be shut down. Period. The end. Even if you aren’t the one hacking, if you have taken stolen photos and put them on your site, you are an accessory and should be shut down. Laws need to be changed.”
As the American Idol alum mentions, she isn’t the only celebrity currently taking action against nude photo leaks. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn responded Monday after explicit images of her and ex Tiger Woods were leaked from her personal cellphone.
“It is an outrageous and despicable invasion of privacy for anyone to steal and illegally publish private intimate photos,” Vonn’s spokesman told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement.
Kristen Stewart also took legal action this week when a nude selfie with girlfriend Stella Maxwell ended up on porn sites due to an illegal hack.
McPhee hopes that all people, public figures and private citizens alike, affected by similar breaches of privacy can find justice.
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