Back in August, many famous figures like Rihanna, Kate Upton, McKayla Maroney, and Lea Michele were the targets of a nude photo leak scandal by an unknown source that hacked into their private iCloud accounts.
Jennifer Lawrence, who was also among the stars that had stolen photos of her posted online, was one of the most popular aims in the leak. Before the scandal, Lawrence did an interview with Vanity Fair and recently, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner, followed up with her to see if she would be willing to comment on the issue.
Naturally with this type of scandal, there is a lot of criticism against the celebrities for even taking the pictures. Because Lawrence is known for her role as Katniss in the popular Hunger Games series, she has a lot of teen fans. Some have said that she is not setting a good example for taking these photos in the first place. Lawrence had a lot to say in her own defense as well and took it upon herself to make a statement to Vanity Fair.
“I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say ‘I’m sorry’ for,” Lawrence told Kashner. “It is not a scandal, it is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation and it’s disgusting.”
Lawrence explained how she took the photos with the intention of them only being seen by her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Hault.
“I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years,” she said. “It was long distance and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”
She is mainly blaming the websites that posted the leaked photos and tabloids for this incident. Lawrence thinks it is disgusting that websites would violate someone’s privacy just to make a quick buck and calling people who run these websites thoughtless and careless.
“The law needs to be changed and we need to change. That’s why these websites are responsible.” Lawrence said.
She also had a message to the tabloids saying, “You have a choice. You don’t have to be a person who spreads negativity and lies for a living. You can do something good. You can be good. Let’s just make that choice and it feels better.”
When Lawrence found out the pictures were leaked, she was outraged of course but nothing hurt her more than the fact that she would have to call her dad and explain to him what had happened. She said that even all of the money that she has made from the Hunger Games series is not worth having to tell your dad that nude pictures of yourself are leaked all over the internet.
Lawrence is not just angry at the websites but she is very upset with people who looked at the photos, even loved ones.
She said, “Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense. You should cower with shame. I didn’t tell you that you could look at my naked body.”
Basically, no one considered how her feelings may be hurt in this situation. Lawrence did not understand why this would be ok just because she was a celebrity. She did not ask for this and is disgusted that she does not get a say in the matter of whether thousands of people could see her naked.
Lawrence is taking the road and not holding a grudge however, insisting that she is just moving on with her life.
“I’m not crying about it anymore. I can’t be angry anymore. I can’t have my happiness rest on these people being caught because they might not be. I need to just find my own peace.”
Lawrence should be applauded and admired for sticking up for herself and not taking crap from anyone. But something that everyone could learn from this story is that nothing is private nowadays. With the Internet and an overload of technology, anything can get out and come back to haunt you. In a way, she is setting an example for young girls by warning them of the dangers of taking nude photos. Whether you are sending them to someone you trust, posting them to Snapchat, or just having them on your computer, there is still a way they can leak. Hopefully girls will look to this story as a cautionary tale and maybe will think twice before hitting that send button.