The massive privacy violation that exposed naked pictures of numerous celebrities has inspired a lot of discussion about taking, sharing, and storing private images. Because this is the Internet, there’s a fair amount of awfulness mixed in with the scattering of sensible comments.
Comedian Ricky Gervais is the highest-profile person to land in hot water over insensitive remarks about the incident. In a tweet that he subsequently deleted, Gervais wrote, “Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer.”
In case you missed his hastily deleted tweet, here is Ricky Gervais blaming the violation of a woman’s body on her. pic.twitter.com/Uck6krEGVd
— Emily Reynolds (@rey_z) September 1, 2014
In a series of follow-up tweets, Gervais remained unapologetic and criticized those whom he offended.
Anyone who retweets this leaked erotic photo of me should be ashamed of themselves. pic.twitter.com/p2KBa6serK
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) August 31, 2014
Dear easily offended people, don’t be. Hope that helps. Have a great day :)
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) September 1, 2014
Gervais is far from the only person making the argument that celebrities who don’t take the proper security precautions are to blame for the results. This line of reasoning, which often surfaces whenever a woman is the victim of an invasion of privacy either physical or virtual, is out in full force today. Both men and women are blaming the celebrities who were victimized yesterday for failing to prevent the actions of a determined hacker.
@HuffingtonPost @achorowitz What example are female celebrities setting for young women by taking nude pics? #responsibility
— Steven Wilson (@stevenmwilson) September 1, 2014
tip on how to prevent your nude photos getting leaked: don’t take nudes
— alex (@alblen) September 1, 2014
“You are a celebrity, you are a target of spying, stalking, etc. Don’t take nudes and expect them to never leak.”
— SamPura (@SamPura) September 1, 2014
I hate when celebrities say “omg my phone was hacked.” Just man up & take responsibility. U shouldn’t have nude pics on ur phone neways.
— lea (@lmbueno4) September 1, 2014
Shades of Elliot Rodger in the terrifying mentions of nude pic leak victim @M_E_Winstead (via @scotchka): pic.twitter.com/Bqd5kNNBbd
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) September 1, 2014
I couldn’t care less about celebs and their nudes. Don’t take them if you don’t want people to see. Learn a lesson. 🙌
— Danielle Uhron (@duhron20) September 1, 2014
Why do celebrities take nudes and the whine about it when they get public? Just don’t take them in the first place!! DUH
— AlexTrik (@AlexTrikTV) September 1, 2014
As a man I’m not complaining, but seriously, why the fuck are celebrities taking these “nudes” anyway? Have to take some responsibility too
— Sean Davies (@SeanDavies96) August 31, 2014
While it is fair and uncontroversial to suggest that people take precautions online, victim-blamers have been twisting the notion of personal responsibility to suggest that celebrities who are hacked deserve their fate if they didn’t do everything they could to prevent such a breach.
Does anyone believe in personal responsibility anymore? You don’t want your nude photos leaked, don’t get naked for a photographer. E-Z-P-Z.
— Hugo Thomas Jr. (@hugoshead) August 31, 2014
This phenomenon is not new. Witness this tweet from June commenting on a story that could have turned tragic and was already deeply depressing.
While what the boy did was wrong, this girl needs to take personal responsibility for taking the photos of… https://t.co/Xx54uneK73
— Vargas Paralegal (@VargasParalegal) June 29, 2014
Meanwhile, the leak was too creepy even for some redditors:
Top comment thread from the top Jennifer Lawrence nude pic leak post on @Reddit. Progress? pic.twitter.com/nSrpFpFHDv
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 31, 2014
And several celebrities whose photos were seemingly exposed have responded with grace and humor. Here’s what Glee‘s Becca Tobin, whose alleged leaked photos showed her next to a Christmas tree, tweeted:
Merry XXXmas!
— Becca Tobin (@becbecbobec) September 1, 2014
Photo via TK