It has seemed as though Jennifer Lawrence has been incredibly quiet since her phone was hacked and tons of nude photos of her leaked online last month, and for good reason – she was biding her time and thinking about how she would handle it. She finally has spoken out about the crime in a new interview with Vanity Fair:
“Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she says. “It does not mean that it comes with the territory. 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. ”
She had been tempted to write a statement when news of the privacy violation broke, she says, but “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.”
Lawrence also addresses the legal ramifications of the hack. “It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” she tells Kashner. “It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That’s why these Web sites 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.”
“Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense. 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.”
Lawrence also shares a message for the tabloid community: “You have a choice. You don’t have to be a person who spreads negativity and lies for a living. You can do something good. You can be good. Let’s just make that choice and—it feels better.”
Aw, I love her. I’m really glad she DIDN’T apologize for even having those photos. While I do think you have to be extra careful when you’re a celebrity and that unfortunately such violations of privacy are sort of part of the celebrity world no matter what, I also think she’s 100% right – why shouldn’t she take PRIVATE pictures that were meant only for the person she was dating at the time? Plus, these were from years ago. Her fame was nowhere near its current level and she probably didn’t even think such a thing like being hacked and having those photos leaked to the world was a remote possibility. It is a shame, but unfortunately, it’s the price you pay being in the public eye. That doesn’t make it right – it’s far from it – it’s just the sad reality of the situation.
It’s good to hear that she’s come to terms with it though and seems much stronger for it.
The whole “either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you” doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, by all means send your nudes to your boyfriend if you feel so inclined, but it’s not something that you NEED to do. You don’t have to send nudes, just like he doesn’t have to look at porn. Men don’t need to look at a pair of boobs to keep their interest, let’s give them some more credit than that.