New York — Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken publicly for the first time after naked pictures of her were hacked and posted online, angrily slamming the leak as a “sex crime.”
Speaking exclusively to Vanity Fair, the rising siren of the silver screen said she felt violated and was afraid how the hacked photographs would affect her career.
“Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she told the November issue of the magazine, which will be available online Wednesday.
“It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world.”
Hackers dumped nude photos of more than a dozen Hollywood celebrities on social media last month after snatching them from Apple’s iCloud in what the tech giant called a “targeted attack.”
“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” the 24-year-old actress told Vanity Fair.
“It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That’s why these websites are responsible.”
“Just the fact that somebody can be sexually exploited and violated, and the first thought that crosses somebody’s mind is to make a profit from it. It’s so beyond me. I just can’t imagine being that detached from humanity. I can’t imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside.”
She told Vanity Fair she had sent the photographs to her then boyfriend while they were in a long distance relationship.
She was initially tempted to write a statement, but said: “Every single thing that I tried to write made me cry or get angry.
“I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”
More than a dozen Hollywood celebrities have threatened to sue Google for failing to crack down on the leaks.
A letter by prominent Tinseltown lawyer Marty Singer published by the Hollywood Reporter warned they could seek $100 million in damages from the U.S. online search giant for failing to take down the photos.
AFP Photo/Isaac Brekken
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