Actress Jennifer Lawrence (left) and model Kate Upton were among several celebrities whose nude photos were leaked on the Internet on Aug. 31.
Credit: Photos courtesy of MCT
This is part of a weekly series called “Pop Opinions” where The Lantern offers its take on the week’s pop culture news.
The Internet age comes with the good, but perhaps more often it comes with the bad. Some might disagree, but the plethora of celebrity nude pictures leaked on Aug. 31 falls into the latter category.
Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, among other slightly lesser-known stars, saw their personal photos appear online and spread as fast as everything spreads on the Internet these days.
Although they were seen by the majority through Twitter, the photos originally appeared on social media news website Reddit’s creepy cousin 4chan.
Lawrence was the first of the victims to acknowledge the pictures, with her lawyers releasing a statement saying, “The authorities had been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos.”
As troubling and ethically confusing — not to mention illegal — as these events are, the repercussions are still uncertain. The FBI is reportedly getting involved with the search for the perpetrator, but it remains to be seen what will come of the investigation.
The latest high-profile incident of this sort was, in 2009, when a video of then-ESPN reporter Erin Andrews appeared online, apparently taken at multiple hotel locations by someone following her. That man was later sentenced to 30 months in prison along with $7,366 in restitutionary damages, which doesn’t quite seem like a fair punishment, as Andrews will be struggling to keep the video offline for a very long time.
Lawrence and Upton are looking at an uphill fight, too, and the best we can do is show our sympathy and support.
In other news, a Canadian teenager was arrested Aug. 29 and charged with assault and dangerous driving after crashing his ATV into a minivan in Ontario. Justin Bieber. It was Biebs. He got arrested again.
But just checking in — everyone all caught up on their sleep now that ‘The Simpsons’ FXX marathon is over? Hope so. I’m getting there. Still dreaming of doughnuts and nuclear power plants, though.
