“Hunger Games” actress Jennifer Lawrence has finally spoken publicly — and at length — about the major photo hack in late August, a data dump that included several pictures of Lawrence and other well-known women in the nude. The pictures were taken from the women’s private devices, and the case is still under investigation.
At the time, a spokesperson for Lawrence issued a statement calling the hack a “flagrant violation of privacy” and promised that those posting the photos would be prosecuted.
Now, Lawrence is ready to speak for herself. In comments to Vanity Fair as a follow-up to a profile interview (she’s the mag’s November cover star), Lawrence said that she felt “sexually violated and exploited,” calling the hack “a sex crime.”
It’s not just the hackers who are to blame, either.
“Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense,” Lawrence said. “You should cower with shame. Even people who I know and love say, ‘Oh, yeah, I looked at the pictures.’ I don’t want to get mad, but at the same time I’m thinking, I didn’t tell you that you could look at my naked body.”
It’s safe to assume that Lawrence would not see that proposed art show including her pictures as a “cultural commentary.”
The photos, she clarified, had been intended for former boyfriend Nicholas Hoult. (Lawrence is now reportedly attached to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.)
Lawrence admitted that she struggled with how to respond when news of the hack broke.
“I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for,” she said. “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.”
However, she said, she’s moving on.
“I’m not crying about it anymore,” Lawrence said. “I can’t be angry anymore. I can’t have my happiness rest on these people being caught, because they might not be. I need to just find my own peace.”
Read more at Vanity Fair.
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