Jennifer Lawrence has finally spoken out about the release of her nude photos in August.
The 24-year-old “Hunger Games” and “X-Men” star broke her silence in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“I was just so afraid,” she said. “I didn’t know how this would affect my career.”
In case you missed the media coverage, hackers somehow obtained Lawrence’s and several other actresses’ personal photos. They began appearing on the Internet ?Aug. 31.
Lawrence didn’t immediately release a ?statement.
She explained in her interview with Vanity Fair that she attempted to write something several times.
But everything she came up with made her cry or become angry.
“I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for,” she said.
She is absolutely right in her refusal to apologize. She didn’t willingly leak her own naked ?photographs.
She doesn’t owe the world an apology for what happened to her, or for being the victim of what was essentially a sex crime enacted on her and several other members of young Hollywood.
Taking nude photos of yourself is not a crime. Your body is your body, and you have the right to do with it what you will.
At the time some of the photos were taken, Lawrence was in a four-year relationship with “X-Men” co-star Nicholas Hoult.
“It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn, or he’s going to look at you,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence produced these photos for the man she was in a loving and trusting relationship with.
They were intended as a way for the two to stay intimate while being ?separated.
There is nothing shameful or wrong in how they expressed their ?intimacy.
What is shameful and wrong is that someone outside of that relationship decided he or she had the right to intrude and violate Lawrence’s privacy and her body.
This lack of respect of individuals stems from the growing idea that celebrities owe us, the people, something, even their own bodies.
Each generation becomes more and more obsessive about the ?current pop culture icons.
It’s this culture that propagates stalking band members after concerts or trying to break into celebrities’ hotel rooms or ? houses.
We want to know more and more about them and their families, and we want more access to them as individuals.
We have to stop thinking they owe us something just because they’re famous. They are still people.
They deserve the same basic rights as everyone else.
They dedicate hours to us already in the albums and films and TV shows they create.
They give as much of themselves to us as they can.We need to stop being selfish.
lnbanks@indiana.edu
