As great as the Internet is, sometimes it reminds us that it can also bite those who use it if they forget to be careful – in fact, many celebrities were reminded of this fact throughout 2014, as what started as a random one-off incident somehow managed to snowball into a disturbing trend that set the Internet on fire. At some point, it became a “sport” for some hackers to try and leak as many people’s photos as they could, and the effects of those attacks can still be seen echoing through the Web.
Various people were affected, some quite famous, some not so much – and some who were relatively unknown before their respective incidents actually managed to rise to fame “thanks” to their leaks. Among the higher-profiled leaks was that of Jennifer Lawrence and her topless selfies, which were initially posted to 4chan but quickly spread to Reddit and other sites. According to some, this was actually the primary incident that started the whole trend, as the popularity this leak attracted was seen as quite appealing by some hackers.
Kim Kardashian was also affected by similar attacks, although she wasn’t really upset by the incident. According to her, the fact that she has already released official nude photos makes it largely irrelevant to her if people get to see her naked body through unofficial means. Of course, it’s still an invasion of her privacy, but that seems to be a separate issue for the celebrity. She hasn’t discussed that particular aspect of the attack in detail, so it’s not known if she actually disagrees with the attacks on her private files. It’s probably safe to assume that she wasn’t particularly thrilled by this, however Kim Kardashian is also known for having a relatively tough attitude towards events in her life.
Female stars aren’t the only ones finding themselves under the crosshairs of malicious attackers, as various male celebrities have also suffered from such incidents through 2014. It’s interesting to note that the responses seem vastly different in both cases, however. While many female celebrities were outraged by their leaks, most men – including those who’ve had some serious pictures leaked, such as their genitalia – seemed to take the whole thing as a joke and weren’t really phased by it.
There are exceptions to that, such as Kevin Federline, who has been quite insistent in his claims that the pictures circulating the Internet with his name attached to them aren’t actually his. While nobody has managed to prove his claims one way or the other, some have stated that he should just let it go, similarly to most other celebrities affected by the leaking attacks.