The man responsible for distributing nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence has been arrested and now faces up to five years in prison.
Pleading guilty to felony computer-hacking chargers, 36-year-old Ryan Collins signed a plea agreement with the U.S Attorney’s office on Tuesday, and according to reports from Variety, the usual five-year sentence is likely to be dramatically reduced due to as little as 18 months due to his ongoing cooperation with officials.
It was in August 2014 that the now infamous hacks took place, with nude photos of the Hunger Games star, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Kirsten Dunst, Anna Kendrick and Christina Hendricks among others began appearing online.
Initially many media outlets reported the crimes as a mere “leak” and a “scandal”, claiming Lawrence and her famous counterparts should have known better or been smarter about what they were doing in their own time.
But understanding that women should be able to do whatever they damned well please with their bodies and being the badass that she is, the award-winning actress was instrumental in schooling naïve reporters and calling out the troubling undercurrent of victim blaming that accompanied the hack.
“I started to write an apology,” Lawrence said during an interview with Vanity Fair following the crime. “But I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for.
“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting.”
According to U.S officials, the crimes occurred from November 2012 to September 2014, when Pennsylvania-based Collins sent emails, “that appeared to be from Apple or Google” to his victims.
Asking for usernames and passwords, Collins then downloaded entire iCloud backups, which included photos, emails, contacts and other personal information. Much of this was then used in the public leaks.
U.S officials believe that Collins accessed more than 100 accounts during this time.
“I just can’t imagine being that detached from humanity,” Lawrence said at the time. “I can’t imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside.”
Lawrence is yet to publicly comment on the arrest of Collins.
Top Comments
I saw this reported yesterday by Rolling Stone magazine. You should have seen the comments underneath, they were just revolting. Guys calling Collins a hero for 'taking one for the team', constant victim shaming of the people whose photos were distributed so widely. They seemed to be delighted and gleeful at having access to naked photos of celebrities while simultaneously scornful of the women who they had clearly masturbated over multiple times (it wasn't called 'the fappening' for nothing).