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Katy Perry brands Leslie Jones hack 'racist, hate-filled, misogynoir'

Jones' website was hacked with explicit photos and personal photos posted online

Maya Oppenheim
Thursday 25 August 2016 09:11 BST
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Misogynoir, a term which was coined by Black Feminist scholar Moya Bailey, refers to the instances where discrimination of race and gender collide
Misogynoir, a term which was coined by Black Feminist scholar Moya Bailey, refers to the instances where discrimination of race and gender collide (Getty Images)

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Katy Perry has branded the targeted attack on Leslie Jones, which saw intimate photos of the actress and personal information leaked, as an example of misogynoir.

Jones, an actress who stars in the Ghostbusters film, had her website hacked with explicit photographs and personal information posted online on Wednesday. According to the BBC, the 48-year-old comedian’s Tumblr page was taken down after photos from her iCloud account, copies of her passport, driving licence, phone number and Twitter password were posted online.

The report also said an image of the dead Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe appeared in what appeared to be a racist insult. Jones has previously been the victim of a vitriolic racist campaign by internet trolls which saw her briefly take a break from Twitter.

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas left in the wild but that figure could potentially be as low as 43,000
The Australian Koala Foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas left in the wild but that figure could potentially be as low as 43,000 (Getty Images)

Perry publicly condemned the attack on Jones and used the hashtag "Stand With Leslie" which has been trending on Twitter. “Do not give your eyeballs to this racist, hate-filled, misogynoir crime. I #StandWithLeslie,” she wrote.

Misogynoir, a term which was coined by Black Feminist scholar Moya Bailey, refers to combined discrimination on the basis of race and gender and ultimately defines the moment when racism and sexism meet. If you break down the word, “miso” means hater, while “gyn” means woman and “noir" means black.

Bailey established the word misogynoir in 2010 and defines it a way “to describe the particular brand of hatred directed at black women in American visual and popular culture”. In turn, Bailey found a precise term to describe the experiences which only black women encounter. Misogynoir is founded in the notion of intersectionality which understands oppression from a combined perspective of social identities such as race, gender, and class.

A number of prominent individuals such as Patricia Arquette, Alyssa Milano, Patricia Heaton and Ghostbusters director Paul Feig have condemned the attack on Jones.

Jones has yet to release a statement or directly responded to the attack on her on social media so far. After the previous trolling campaign she was received, she condemned the racism she had been subject to and shared many of the vitriolic tweets she had been sent. Jones rejected the argument that she should not “stoop to their level” and instead argued it was imperative she publicly shamed individuals and stood up for herself in the face of harassment.

A representative for Jones did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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