Gabrielle Union on naked photo hacking: 'Where are all the women's groups, the feminists, demanding justice?'
The actress was among those to have intimate images leaked online
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gabrielle Union has said that feminists should be “demanding justice” over the celebrity photo hacking scandal.
The Bring It On actress said the release of hundreds of private images was "a targeted attack, a hate crime against women" and "a new form of sexual abuse".
In an interview published in Cosmopolitan, Union spoke candidly about having her privacy violated just days after getting married to her husband Dwayne Wade.
"All of [the photos] had been shot and deleted years ago. Yet there they were, online for the world to see. I felt extreme anxiety, a complete loss of control. I suddenly understood that deleting things means nothing."
However, the women’s and girls’ rights advocate said she has refused let the hackers subdue her. "I felt an urgent need to speak out — I didn't see silence as an option,"she said.
And she questioned why others were not doing the same. "Where are all the women's groups, the feminists, demanding justice in this case? The silence is deafening. Any time you lose control over your body, it's a violation and a crime."
She added: "In addition, some of the stolen photos reportedly depict women when they were underage — that's child pornography. I hope people think about all these things when they consider clicking on these private images."
Union said there is a misconception that the public has a right to celebrities’ bodies just because they are in the public eye, but she disparaged this idea.
"If I show my husband my naked body, it doesn't mean everyone gets to see it," she said.
Union said she was continuing to go about her life and urged others to do the same in the wake of the large-scale hacking involving over 100 high-profile names, including Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, Kirsten Dunst, Arianna Grande, Victoria Justice and Kate Upton.
The FBI and Apple are both conducting investigations into the apparent widespread invasion of personal accounts thought to be connected to the iCloud service.
Meanwhile, Google has removed links to two websites that were hosting stolen nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence after the domains were reported by the actor’s lawyers.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments