Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence has called the theft and publication of nude photos of her a “sex crime” in the actor’s first public comments since dozens of nude celebrity photos were stolen by hackers.
“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” Lawrence told Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner in an interview to promote new movie Serena. “It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting.”
“The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That’s why these websites 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.”
Nude photos of Lawrence were stolen from the actor’s Apple iCloud account and published by hackers on the website 4chan, along with naked photos of around 100 other female celebrities.
“Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she told Vanity Fair. “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.”
In the interview, Lawrence expresses a sense of anger and violation not just with the hackers but people who chose to view the images, accusing them of also committing a crime. “Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offence. 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.”
The tabloid press were also culpable in sustaining the after-life of the story, Lawrence said, as well as in feeding an undesirable culture. “You have a choice,” the actor said, addressing such journalists. “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.”
Lawrence, 24, rose to fame following her breakthrough role in backwoods drama Winter’s Bone (2010), for which she received a best actress Oscar nomination. She followed this with a win in the best actress category for 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, as well as a third Oscar nomination in her followup with director David O Russell, American Hustle (2013).
She is also a cast member in two major blockbuster franchises – The Hunger Games and X-Men. She dated her X-Men co-star Nicholas Hoult until earlier this year, and made reference to him in the Vanity Fair article. At the time the leak broke, she said, she had been tempted to write a public statement but found “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 appears on the cover of Vanity Fair’s November issue.
• Interviews: Jennifer Lawrence talks Winter’s Bone in 2010, Hunger Games in 2012 and Silver Linings Playbook later that year
