Emma Watson plots legal course of action after private photos leak

Emma Watson’s legal team confirmed she has been hacked, and private photos were leaked online to sites like Reddit and 4chan.

In an ideal world, celebrity women wouldn’t have to worry about their private photos being stolen and uploaded to male-dominated chatrooms. Unfortunately, Emma Watson was just one of the stars hacked in what Reddit users are calling “The Fappening 2.0,” BuzzFeed reported.

"A representative for Watson confirmed that some of the purported photos online are legitimate. “Photos from a clothes fitting Emma had with a stylist a couple of years ago have been stolen. They are not nude photographs. Lawyers have been instructed and we are not commenting further.”"

Now, Watson’s legal team is prepared to fight back. The photos in question show the actress fully clothed, but other leaked images, including some of Amanda Seyfried and Jillian Murray, are alleged to be explicit.

The news broke shortly before the premiere of Beauty and the Beast, starring Watson, which will open in theaters tomorrow. The Belle actress has also recently been the subject of a raging debate about her dedication to feminism.

Watson appeared in a Vanity Fair photo shoot wearing a revealing crop top. Some commentators argued that someone who speaks strongly of feminism should take more care in how she appears in magazines — the argument, of course, falls apart when considering the feminist movement relies heavily on a woman’s choice to dress however she chooses.

In the past, Watson spoke out about the 2014 celebrity hacking scandal, when actresses like Jennifer Lawrence were victimized in what Lawrence herself called a “sex crime.”

A man was sentenced to nine months in jail for hacking into celebrity accounts, reported the BBC, so it’s possible Watson’s legal team will pursue a similar course of action. The Reddit user who publicized the leak commented in a thread that more photos may be released over the next few days, but fortunately, nothing else seems to have surfaced yet.

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