Rihanna has become the latest victim of the mass celebrity nude picture leak scandal known as “The Fappening.”
As you may recall, a few weeks ago a rash of celebrity nude photographs were released on the popular websites Reddit and 4chan, who dubbed the event “The Fappening.”
“The Fappening” led to conversations about privacy, personal responsibility, media ethics , and the safety of Apple’s popular iCloud service before they quickly faded from the news cycle. Shortly after the scandal became national news, Reddit banned all posts and subforms with the title The Fappening, though not after receiving many page hits from curious internet citizens. Now a second round of leaks to Reddit and 4chan, known as “The Fappening 2,” is bringing everything back to the forefront.
According to celebrity news website TMZ , the leaks began sometime on Saturday evening, with nude photos of reality star Kim Kardashian West . Kardashian West is not wearing her wedding ring in the photographs, which suggests that the photographs are older, perhaps from before her May marriage to rap star Kanye West. Many of the celebrity victims of The Fappening reported that the leaked photographs were old and had been deleted by the people who took them.
The second round of leaks also affected actress Garbielle Union. In a joint statement to TMZ , Union and her husband, Dwyane Wade, said that the photographs were sent to Wade, and then deleted. Union and Wade pledged support and prayers of solidarity to other victims of The Fappening, and said they had been in touch with the FBI over the leaked photographs.
Other stars affected or believed to be affected by the second round of The Fappening leaks are Jennifer Love Hewitt, Vanessa Hudgens, Hope Solo, Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, Jenny McCarthy, and singer Rihanna .
The leaks of Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna’s photos has led to some backlash from the public. The backlash seems to stem from the fact that legal nude or semi nude photos of both women already exist. Some have even accused Kardashian West of releasing the photographs on her own in an attempt to garner publicity.
Of the latest round of female celebrity victims of The Fappening, only Gabrielle Union has made public statements about the hacking and release of her private photographs.
At least a dozen young stars were affected by the first round of The Fappening photographs, including The Big Bang Theory ‘s Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande, Hilary Duff, and USA Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, who was underage at the time her leaked photographs were taken.
[Lead image via Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com ]