The celebrity world is still reeling from the latest set of hacked nudes, spreading fear of a new “Fappening.”
Obviously, no one is more deeply impacted than the celebrities whose photos were stolen, including Kristen Stewart, Miley Cyrus, and Tiger Woods.
One of those celebrities, Katharine McPhee, is speaking out — and she says that we need to change laws to discourage this kind of egregious invasion of privacy from happening again.
Katharine McPhee spoke to People and she starts just by sharing her reaction to having her personal photos violated.
Tragically, this isn’t even the first time that she’s been through this.
“I was hacked sometime in the last few years, and along with other celebrities a few days ago, my private photos were blasted all over some sick and despicable websites.”
A lot of the time, leaks spread over social media. The platforms themselves are of course not the culprits.
But there are some sites devoted specifically to sharing the nudes — particularly the leaked or stolen nudes — of celebrities.
It’s vicious and it overwhelmingly targets famous women.
Katharine McPhee has a refreshing amount of perspective on the matter.
“The photos that are mine I am not ashamed of. I love my body and they were taken for a man I was deeply in love with, or for no one but myself.”
There’s no way to no for sure which man Katharine means, though it could always have been that married man.
She adds, very correctly, that what is “truly disgusting is that these sites include photos that do not belong to me, and are not of my body, and I’ve learned this happens continually.”
It’s one thing to have something bad happen to you. Sometimes it’s worse to realize that it happens to others.
Katharine goes on to talk about what needs to change for these kinds of violations to end.
“The constant exploitation of women with no recourse for these websites is absolutely abhorrent.”
Very true.
“These sites, which TMZ (thank you so much) brings more light and attention to by calling them out by name (shame on you), should be shut down. Period. The end.”
We’re not going to weigh in on mentioning a website by name — sometimes there are legal reasons that require you to mention it, and sometimes it’s just a writer trying to be as thorough as possible.
(Rather than a deliberate attempt to make sure that more people see stolen nudes)
And, for the record, TMZ doesn’t host photos that contain nudity like that. They censor even the voluntary kind.
Katharine McPhee does point the finger at sites that distribute these images — hackers upload them to one place, but then other people take it up from there.
“Even if you aren’t the one hacking, if you have taken stolen photos and put them on your site, you are an accessory and should be shut down. Laws need to be changed.”
She goes on to clarify that she’s not painting herself as a victim.
At least, not when compared to others to whom this has happened.
“I am not perfect.”
Can’t relate.
“I never have been and never will be. I try every day to learn to be better and to always live and lead with kindness and love.”
Aren’t we all? Well … more or less.
“But no one deserves this kind of intrusion. I have other friends on these sites, images and videos that were stolen and they cannot get taken down. This is not just a celebrity issue.”
She’s right. Revenge porn is a real thing and it’s sickening.
“This is a privacy and sex crime issue that affects private citizens as well. I hope other female victims and men for that matter, will help and join me in ending this absurdity. Game on.”
People also reported that, in court documents, Katharine McPhee expressed an abundance of negative emotions in response to the leaked photos:
“Horror, shock, shame, mortification, hurt feelings, depression, and … powerlessness.”
That’s appropriate.
We have to say that Katharine McPhee is extremely well-spoken.
It’s tragic that his happened and almost certainly will happen again. It is never someone’s fault simply for having photos, but people will try to blame the victims anyway.
What do you think about her statement about legal statutes? Do laws need to be changed?
