J-Law, Kate Upton Nudes Leak: Web Explodes Over Hacked Celeb Pics
Earlier this week, a post started on 4chan claimed a wealth of celebrity nudes--a large cache in possession of a hacker who'd gained access to several celebrities' alleged personal photos—would leak on Sunday. Well, Sunday's here, the supposed leak has begun, and the internet is reacting accordingly.
The list of celebrities whose nudes are supposedly in this cache includes Jennifer Lawrence, Avril Lavigne, Kate Upton, Lea Michele, and McKayla Maroney, and several of them—the photos, not the celebs—have begun to show up on various message boards across the internet.
It's still unclear how the photographs ended up online, but an anonymous user began posting the images on 4chan on Sunday around 4 pm.
Posters on 4chan and Reddit claimed that the celebrities were hacked through their iCloud accounts, though that hasn't been verified, and the method is unclear. Posters on 4chan and Twitter who claim to have additional videos have reportedly been requesting bitcoin in exchange for their release.
One Twitter user, whose account has since been suspended, posted that TMZ was attempting to purchase a trove of photos, and the anonymous 4chan uploader specifically referenced the gossip site in a 4:13 pm post, writing "I'd rather you get them than TMZ."
TMZ are going to post nudes of like 20 celebs tonight. They are offering the guy who hacked the phones of celebs 6 figure sums to sell them.
— Callux (@Callux) August 31, 2014
According to one Reddit commenter, nudes of the following celebrities have been leaked:
Photos allegedly of Jennifer Lawrence, Lea Michele, Kirstin Dunst, and others have begun to swirl.
Jennifer Lawrence's representatives confirmed to Buzzfeed that the leaked photos were authentic:
Jennifer Lawrence spox confirms authenticity of nude pics to @BuzzFeed, says anyone posting them will be prosecuted: http://t.co/tJ08aVo522
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 31, 2014
(It's unclear on what grounds those people will be "prosecuted.")
Mary Winstead has responded to the leak confirming the photos are of her:
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.
— Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014
Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked.
— Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014
Update 8:40 pm:
Actress Victoria Justice says the photographs alleged to be her are fakes:
These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*
— Victoria Justice (@VictoriaJustice) August 31, 2014
She retweeted this as well:
GUYD WE ARE SO STUPID THE VICTORIA JUSTICE NUDES ARE FAKE, LOOK. CLEARLY AN OLD PICTURE OF HER EDITED & FLIPPED. pic.twitter.com/T9cayuc2ZI
— Domi (@JusticeCosgrove) August 31, 2014
Update 9:30 pm:
Representatives for Ariana Grande have told Buzzfeed, "The photos are completely fake."
Becca Tobin, an actress on Glee pictured decorating a Christmas tree in the nude, appears to have confirmed the veracity of the pictures on Twitter.
Merry XXXmas!
— Becca Tobin (@becbecbobec) September 1, 2014
[Images via Getty/Reddit]