A slew of of private photographs, including some nudes, allegedly belonging to female celebrities have spread across the web and Twitter following an apparent intrusion of their iCloud accounts.
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The images started circulating on Sunday, with members of the messaging board 4Chan claiming responsibility for the hack, with victims purportedly including Victoria Justice, Emily Browning, Kate Bosworth, Jenny McCarthy, Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.
In the immediate aftermath however, a number of the women affected stated that the images were fake.
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
In an email to Buzzfeed meanwhile, a spokesperson for Ariane Grande said that “The photos are completely fake”.
At least some however do appear to be authentic, including those belonging to Mary E Winstead:
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
Also on Twitter, a number of accounts sharing the images have been suspended with the social network refusing to comments and simply pointing people to its rules page.
Of all the celebrities affected, Lawrence appears to have been hit hardest with a number of nude selfies as well an explicit video of the actress being shared.
In a statement emailed to Mashable, a spokesperson for Lawrence said:
This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.
Image: Mingle MediaTV via Flickr.
