The man who hacked Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has been jailed for nine months.
29-year-old Edward Majerczyk was accused of orchestrating a phishing scheme which illegally accessed over 300 emails and online accounts, including private information, nude videos and photos. He pleaded guilty of computer hacking at a Los Angeles court last year. Majerczyk also targeted Kirsten Dunst and kate Upton.
Majerczyk was ordered to pay £4, 600 towards costs of counselling for an undisclosed celebrity whose photos were also shared online. He signed a plea agreement and has been transferred to Chicago.
Previously, Jennifer Lawrence had, understandably, been quite silent about The Fappening, which is the term given to the hack of celebrities’ nude photos that were then leaked via 4Chan and Reddit. Over 50 images of Jennifer were leaked. Stolen by some guy who still hasn’t been identified, the intention was to make money from the photos – because even though the internet is awash with porn, nothing’s more valuable than violating the rights of some famous women, right?
Her publicist released a statement to say that yes, the images were of her, and that they would be taking legal action. But Jennifer herself didn’t release a statement at the time. However, she’s now speaking about it, and we’re punching the air with abundant support: ‘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.’
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She added: ‘I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. [With Nicholas Hoult, who she has since split from] It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.’ And even if she wasn’t in a loving, healthy, great relationship, even if the photos were just for her own enjoyment, she says that the hack and leak was a crime: ‘It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting,’ she tells Vanity Fair.
‘The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That’s why these websites [we’re guessing sites like 4Chan and Reddit, where it just can’t be denied the images were first published] 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.’
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
And the crime doesn’t only stop with the knuckle-dragging tech goons who decided to leak the images: ‘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.’
She added that she just can’t understand the workings of a brain so dedicated in finding nude images of her to spread around the internet for profit: ‘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.’
To the various tabloid writers and editors and papers that have been writing about Jennifer to cash in on the photos somehow or blame her for the crime she was a victim of, she has this to say: ‘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.’
Plus, with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay to promote (we’re guessing this is why she’s spoken about last month’s hack at all), and a career to get on with, she’s moving on: ‘Time does heal, you know. I’m not crying about it anymore. I can’t be angry any more.’
But although the FBI are looking into the hack so they can arrest the assailants, Jennifer doesn’t have much confidence that the hackers will ever be punished for their actions: ‘I can’t have my happiness rest on these people being caught, because they might not be. I need to just find my own peace.’
Well, hopefully us thinking Jennifer is pretty amazing gives her some peace, too. Because right now, we can’t think of a better way to have dealt with such a horrific situation. Oh, and for anyone thinking that because she’s rich and famous she’s invincible to leers or that we totally deserve to see her naked: ‘When I have to make that phone call to my dad and tell him what’s happened… I don’t care how much money I get for The Hunger Games.’
‘I promise you, anybody given the choice of that kind of money or having to make a phone call to tell your dad that something like that has happened, it’s not worth it.’ True to form, she then managed a tiny joke: ‘Fortunately, he was playing golf, so he was in a good mood.’
With people like you around, we’re in a good mood too, Jennifer.
*This story was updated on 25th of January 2017 *
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Picture: Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.