Overview

Scarlett Johansson Leaked Nudes refers to nude photographs of actress Scarlett Johansson that were disseminated across the web in September of 2011. The images were uploaded by hacker Christopher Chaney, who retrieved the photos by hacking into various celebrities computers and mobile devices.

Background

On March 20th, 2011, the celebrity gossip blog StupidRumors.com^[9] reported that a group of hackers had obtained nude photos of 50 celebrities, including Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Hudgens, Scarlett Johansson, Ali Larter, Busy Philipps, Miley Cyrus, Emma Caulfield, Addison Timlin and Renee Olstead. The site went on to state that the FBI had launched an investigation into the leak.

Developments

September 13th: Photo Leak Begins

The content aggregating blog WorldStarHipHop.com^[6] was the first site to leak nude photos of actress Scarlett Johannson online on September 13th, 2011. The same day, Redditor MetalKeirSolid submitted a post to the /r/reddit.com subreddit titled "Scarlett Johansson Leaked Ass Picture"^[1], which reached the front page receiving over 23,800 up votes that day. The post included a photo of the actress taken with her mirror showing her exposed buttocks in the reflection (shown below, right). Also on September 13th, the photos were highlighted on the Internet news sites Perez Hilton^[2] and BuzzFeed.^[7]

September 14th: Online Reaction

On Reddit^[10], the images sparked a discussion about whether or not users should be celebrating invaded another person's privacy. A thread by Redditor aboutandy reached the frontpage where he asked the following question:

"I know she is ungodly hot, but the fact is that these photos were stolen from her and she is probably humiliated right now. Should we really be so excited that these photos came out?"

To verify the authenticity of the photo, EXIF data was taken from a photo used in a real estate listing for her home that matched the nude photos. The images appear to have been taken with a Blackberry 9000 camera phone.

Several Redditors began submitting commentary about the incident in the form of advice animal image macros, many of which contained jokes referring to many Redditor's overt infatuation with the actress.

September 15th: ScarlettJohansonning

On September 15th, 2011, the entertainment blog Gather^[11] published an article titled "Scarlett Johansson Phone Hack Inspires 'Naked Tush' Meme", describing an exposed buttock photo fad mimicking the Johansson photo. The article linked to a Tumblr blog titled "Tush"^[12], which compiled examples of the fad under the hashtag "#Scarlettjohanssoning."

October 12th: FBI Investigation & Arrest

According to TMZ^[3] and The Washington Post^[4], Johansson contacted the FBI to help find the individual who hacked into her cell phone to steal the pictures. ABC News^[8] reported that a "cell phone hacker ring" might be responsible for the Johansson leak, and that Mila Kunis had become a victim of the hacks as well.

On October 12th, 2011, TMZ^[13] reported that the FBI arrested a 35-year-old Florida resident named Christopher Chaney. In the case dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi", Chaney was accused of hacking into the phones and computers of celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Vanessa Hudgens, Ali Larter, Jessica Alba and Emma Caulfield. Gawker^[14] revealed that the man used the online handle "Gook" and was an active user of the image board 4chan. According to the Los Angeles Times blog^[15], though the FBI investigation began in 2010, Scarlett Johansson's involvement with the FBI may have sped up the arrests.

According to a grand jury indictment, Chaney used multiple aliases to acquire private information and nude photos belonging to celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis. In all, more than 50 victims were identified and Chaney was charged with several crimes including accessing protected computers without authorization, damaging protected computers without authorization, wiretapping and aggravated identity theft.

November 1st: Johansson Responds

In an interview in the December 2011 issue of Vanity Fair^[16], Scarlett commented on the photo leak, stating that they were originally taken for her husband at the time, Ryan Reynolds.^[16] She said that she found nothing wrong with taking them^[17] remarking, "I know my best angles."^[18]

June 27th, 2011: Chaney Convicted

On June 27th, 2011, The Huffington Post^[19] reported that Chaney pled guilty to nine counts and was sentenced to 71 months in prison, was ordered to pay $66,179.46 in restitution to Johansson and an additional $150,000 to others he had hacked. The article went on to quote U.S. attorney Lisa Feldman, who claimed Chaney had continued hacking into celebrity cell phones and computers after having his computer seized by the FBI.

The Actress

Scarlett Johansson was born in New York City on November 22nd, 1984 and spent her early life growing up in the Bronx in an Ashkenazi Jewish family. She received awards for her role as Charlotte in the 2003 film Lost in Translation from BAFTA, Boston Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics and Upsteam. In May of 2008 she released her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, consisting almost entirely of Tom Waits covers. She has a history of political activism, and campaigned for presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama.

Search Interest

External References