Once again, the personal photos of several celebrities were allegedly stolen and posted online for the world to see.
On Saturday, reports first surfaced that nude pictures of Kim Kardashian were circulating the web, and by the weekend's end, she was hardly the only star whose privacy had been invaded. Amber Heard supposedly had over 50 photos stolen, including one with a topless message to fiancé Johnny Depp.
Although unconfirmed, it appears the latest round of nude leaks is related to the hacking that occurred over Labor Day weekend where Jennifer Lawrence, Kaley Cuoco, and Kate Upton were among the victims.
Here's what we know:
The Latest Victims: Along with Kardashian and Heard, Rihanna, Vanessa Hudgens, Hope Solo, Avril Lavigne, Lake Bell, Mary-Kate Olsen, Aubrey Plaza, Gabrielle Union, Emily Ratajkowski, Kate Bosworth, Meagan Good, and Hayden Panettiere were allegedly among the latest celebs to get hacked. Plus, more stolen photos appearing to be of J.Law and Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco hit the web on Saturday.
Their Reactions: So far, only Gabrielle Union and Meagan Good have spoken out about the incident.
"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," Union and her new husband, Dwyane Wade, said in a statement. "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. For anyone out there also being affected by these and other hacking and hate crimes — We send our love, support and prayers. We have done nothing wrong."
Meanwhile, Good took to Instagram. "I'm definitely in shock…saddened for every one who is experiencing this," the Think Like a Man Too actress wrote. "At the end of the day — we all now these pictures were for my husband..And at the end of the day evidently we all know how I feel about my t--ties. That’s all I've got folks…Oh yea, and for everyone who's reposting the leaked nudes? You should be ashamed of yourself."
Reps for Bosworth, Rihanna, and Kardashian have declined to comment at this time. However, the reality star spoke out about the situation earlier this month after the first round hit the web.
"I think it's a wake-up call for people to make sure they have every privacy setting," Kim told BBC Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw. "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."
Last week, Cuoco talked to Jimmy Kimmel about the incident. "It was just a really bad situation, but I took it into my own hands and made a joke about it," she said. "Because, you know, what are you going to do?"
"This is a flagrant violation of privacy," Lawrence's publicist wrote in a statement at the time of the first leak. "The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."
FBI Involvement: The FBI confirms that an investigation into the alleged computer intrusion/theft is ongoing, but they are not at liberty to comment on specifics in terms of alleged victims.
The Perpetrators: Once again, the photos were first published on sites such as 4chan and Reddit. No hacking suspects have been identified in connection with either leak.
4chan and Reddit Policies: After the first round of stolen photos hit the web, 4chan made a new policy on copyright infringement and they removed the photos immediately after this latest incident.
Reddit banned the hub "The Fappening" that leaked the nude pics the first time around. Reddit "deplore[s] the theft of these images" the social networking service said in a statement, and does not "condone their widespread distribution." However, Reddit also made clear in its statement that it is "unlikely" to make changes to existing site content policies in response to this specific event. Despite removal, the photos keep popping up on Reddit.
Neither company has released an updated statement.
While the photos were removed from both websites rather quickly during round two, many photos in question were quickly reposted and spread online anyway.
