Hacked then leaked: The massive female celebs whose nudes still plague the internet to this day

The internet has been a breeding ground for leaked celeb nudes for almost as long as it has been around, not that it makes it any less morally bankrupt.

Unfortunately, the issue has been a staple of the internet for years, and it’s now turned into AI-generated nudes that never existed in the first place. In July, a raunchy video of Justin Bieber went mega viral on Twitter despite not being real.

The issue was particularly widespread in 2014, when over 500 explicit private photos and videos were posted by a group known as the collectors. Since then, it’s been dubbed everything from “Celebgate” to “The Fappening”, with some very well-known names affected by it.

Here’s what they said in response.

Jennifer Lawrence

Credit: All Star

Jennifer Lawrence was one of the most famous celebs to be included in the infamous 2014 iCloud mining hack.

“When the hacking thing happened—it was so unbelievably violating that you can’t even put into words. I think that I am still actually processing,” she said in 2017, three years after she was hacked.

“I feel like I got gangbanged by the f*cking planet. There was not one person in the world that is not capable of seeing these intimate photos of me. You could just be at a barbecue and someone could just pull it up on their phone.”

In 2017, Chicago hacker Edward Majerczyk was arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison for illegally accessing the private content of more than 300 people.

Kaley Cuoco

Credit: NBC

As you’ll quickly realise, these women’s nudes were all leaked during the same period. Unlike many of their male counterparts, who had sent the x-rated content to someone, these women simply had it somewhere on their cloud storage.

Kaley poked fun at the leak afterwards, writing on Instagram: “What a fun day that was, frolicking with my hubs on the beaches of Mexico. Feels like we forgot something?”

Later, Kaley and her husband even designed some x-rated pictures of their own. They edited paparazzi shots to look naked, and then leaked them themselves as a joke. They warned family first, of course.

Kirsten Dunst

Credit: Paramount Pictures

Spider-Man’s Kirsten Dunst was actually the first person to respond to the nude leak, sarcastically thanking iCloud on Twitter.

“I try to have a sense of humour about a really unfortunate situation,” she also said. “The FBI is investigating, so they’re handling it right now.”

Kate Upton

Credit: 20th Century Studios

Unlike some of the other women on this list whose nudes were mostly just themselves, Kate Upton’s leak also included her husband.

“This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton’s privacy,” her lawyer said in response. “We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible.”

Rihanna

Credit: STX Entertainment

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Rihanna’s nude photo leak predated the tsunami in 2014, with hers emerging on the internet in 2009. She was mostly upset that her mum had to see them.

“I was [freaked out],” she said. “It was the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to me. I just felt like my whole privacy was taken before that [first photo leak] and then, when that came out, I thought, ‘Oh great, so now there’s nothing they don’t know about me and my private life.”

Vanessa Hudgens

Credit: Sony

Like Rihanna, Vanessa Hudgens’ phone was hacked in 2007, a mere year after she starred in the OG High School Musical.

She addressed it in 2020, stating: “It was a really traumatising thing for me.  It’s really f***ed up that people feel like they are entitled enough to share something that personal with the world.”

Gabrielle Union

Credit: Universal

Back to the Celebgate in 2014, Gabrielle Union was another female celeb who was victimised by hackers. She called it a “gross violation” of her privacy.

“I didn’t do anything wrong—no matter what people describe to me, ‘It’s your fault, you’re stupid to take nude photos, that’s what happens when you’re a celebrity’—all this nonsense…they’re criminals,” she shared.

“What you do with your own body is your choice. Period. There’s no gray matter there. And when someone takes your choice away and your power away over your own body, it’s a crime. Period. A hacking scandal? We’re lessening it, making it more palatable for mass consumption, but it’s a crime.”

She pointed out that there would have been “more outrage” if the women weren’t celebs.

Lucy Hale

Credit: Dimension Films

Nude images of Lucy Hale were uploaded to a p*rn site in 2014, but the actress said she would “not apologise” for taking them.

“I wasn’t going to comment on something so ridiculous, but since 2017 is gonna be all about speaking my truth… I’m gonna say something,” she said.

“I will not apologise for living my life and having a personal life that is all mine. It’s truly unfortunate that being exposed in this way is allowed. Thank you for all the sweet, supportive messages I’ve been receiving. It was a much needed reminder that I’m surrounded by so much love. I appreciate you all very much.”

The man responsible for the massive leak, Ryan Collins, was jailed for just 18 months.

Scarlett Johansson

Credit: Disney

Scarlett Johansson’s nudes, which she’d taken for then-husband Ryan Reynolds, are still sadly prevalent on the internet to this day.

Though she did condemn the leak, saying that celebs are entitled to “privacy” like anyone else, she also joked about knowing her “best angles.”

It’s true what they say about things on the internet having a shelf life, and while no one is necessarily talking about the leaks a decade on, searching their names on Twitter is still a car crash of morals.

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Featured image credit: Sansho Scott/BFA.com/Shutterstock and Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock and Alessandro Galatoli/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock