In early September, hundreds of private celebrity photos were leaked and posted onto the 4chan website in an anonymous hack. Two celebrities who were among the first were Jennifer Lawrence and Ariana Grande, and the photos that were leaked ranged from semi-nude to entirely nude. In the following weeks, photos of more celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, were leaked.
The moment these photos were revealed, social media exploded. Tweets were posted that ranged from humor to disgust. Debates emerged of who to blame—the celebrities who took the photos? Or the not-yet-identified hacker who stole and shared very private information?
While it’s still unknown how the photos were found—4chan users say the celebrity’s iCloud accounts were hacked and Apple denies any breach of their systems—these questions lead to an even broader debate about the acceptability of nude photos in today’s society.
