Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger is victim of explicit Instagram hack

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 14: Nicole Scherzinger attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Nicole Scherzinger attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Nicole Scherzinger has become the latest celebrity victim of hacking, with a post promising a “sex tape” appearing on her Instagram account.

The former X Factor judge’s page was hacked at the weekend, as an image of a woman in a state of undress with Scherzinger's head edited on appeared on her page.

The post also included a promise to reveal a "sex tape".

While the message was still visible on the site, shocked fans went on Twitter to try to warn the star that her account must have been compromised.

However, the fake image was removed from both Scherzinger's page and her Instagram story around 30 minutes after they appeared.

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The former Pussycat Doll has not addressed the hacking on Instagram, although she has been back on the site to share a picture of herself dressed up for the Creative Arts Emmys, which she attended in Los Angeles on Saturday.

She has also been posting on Twitter, but did not mention what had happened.

The incident comes just a few months after a video of the singer kissing her then boyfriend Lewis Hamilton was leaked online.

The footage, which apparently showed the pair kissing and cuddling while in bed together, was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

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Scherzinger, 41, told The Sun on Sunday at the time: “It’s been horrible.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - SEPTEMBER 22:  Nicole Scherzinger arrives at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's 49th Anniversary Gala Vanguard Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on September 22, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Photo by Maury Phillips/Getty Images for Los Angeles LGBT Center )
Nicole Scherzinger arrives at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's 49th Anniversary Gala Vanguard Awards, 2018. (Photo by Maury Phillips/Getty Images for Los Angeles LGBT Center )

“I genuinely don’t understand why someone would do something like this, or why they would leak it. It’s an unbelievably mean thing to do.”

Scherzinger is the latest in a long line of celebrities to be hacked. Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton are among the stars who have had private images leaked online in the past.