Lindsey Vonn plans legal action over hacked nude photo
Lindsey Vonn speaks to Tiger Woods during the Par 3 contest at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., on April 8, 2015. Credit: AP
Professional skier Lindsey Vonn says she is planning legal action in the wake of a photo hacking and leaked nude imagery.
“It is an outrageous and despicable invasion of privacy for anyone to steal and illegally publish private intimate photos,” a representative for the 32-year-old Olympic and World Cup gold medalist said in a statement. “Lindsey will take all necessary and appropriate legal action to protect and enforce her rights and interests,” the spokesman continued. “She believes the individuals responsible for hacking her private photos as well as the websites that encourage this detestable conduct should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law.”
The explicit imagery appeared Monday on a website specializing in hacked celebrity photos and in TV and film clips featuring nudity. While media reports and a headline on that site suggest that nude photos of Tiger Woods, Vonn’s former boyfriend, were also leaked, none appeared on the site as of Wednesday.
Woods’ attorney told Fox News on Tuesday that the golfer would “aggressively pursue any websites who seek to capitalize on or encourage this outrageous conduct.”
Since Aug. 14, the site has run nude or topless images of other celebrities, including Miley Cyrus, Kristen Stewart and her girlfriend, model Stella Maxwell.
TMZ.com said Tuesday that Stewart’s attorney, Scott Whitehead, has sent letters to websites running the photos, saying they are violating copyright laws through commercial use of his client’s image without permission.
This latest hack of images from iCloud and other file-sharing platforms echoes two similar mass leaks. In the original, widely publicized hack of August and September 2014, more than a hundred stars were targeted. A second widespread attack in March this year leaked images from more than 70 celebrities, including actresses Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried.
In May 2016, Ryan Collins, a hacker from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to the original 2014 hack, and in October was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. In January, Chicagoan Edward Majerczyk was sentenced to nine months in prison for his part in the same hack.
