Several celebrities, including Kristen Stewart, Miley Cyrus and Tiger Woods, became the latest victims of a nude photo hack this week, similar to “The Fappening” leaks in 2014.
Three years after Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were among the victims of an iCloud hack referred to as “Celebgate,” a new batch of stars seem to be finding their privacy being violated.
The photos were leaked on Monday and a website allegedly posted private images of Cyrus with ex-girlfriend Stella Maxwell, along with a topless Stewart, singer Katharine McPhee, Woods and Olympic skier ex-girlfriend Lindsey Vonn.
READ MORE: Hacker who stole nude celebrity photos sentenced to 9 months
In a statement released to People, Vonn revealed that she would be taking legal action.
“It is an outrageous and despicable invasion of privacy for anyone to steal and illegally publish private intimate photos,” a spokesman said. “Lindsey will take all necessary and appropriate legal action to protect and enforce her rights and interests.”
The statement continues: “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 photos were taken several years ago while Vonn and Woods were dating.
READ MORE: Hacker who stole nude celebrity photos sentenced to 18 months in prison
This isn’t the first celebrity private photo leak this year. In April, nude photos of Amanda Seyfried, Emma Watson, Rose McGowan, Katie Cassidy, figure skater Analeigh Tipton, model Dylan Penn and many others were leaked by a website as part of “Fappening 2.0.”
The first instance of leaks that widely circulated across the internet in 2014 included nude photos of Lawrence and other celebrities including Upton, Rihanna and Kirsten Dunst.
Lawrence said that the incident was a “sex crime” and “sexual violation.” She also said she was “so afraid, I didn’t know how it would affect my career,” in an interview with Vanity Fair.
In January, a man involved in the celebrity nude-photo scandal was sentenced to nine months in prison, for hacking the private online accounts of celebrities and stealing sensitive information, including nude photos and videos.
READ MORE: 1 in 25 people are victims of ‘revenge porn’ new study says
Edward Majerczyk, of Illinois, was ordered to pay US$7,500 as restitution for counseling costs to one of his celebrity victims whose private photos were leaked online. Majerczyk is believed to have accessed online accounts, including email addresses of 30 celebrities, the Associated Press reported.
He was accused of sending phishing emails to his victims, making them believe they were being contacted by their email provider and tricking them into divulging their email addresses and passwords.
Majerczyk agreed to plead guilty last year to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, specifically, one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.