Leslie Jones's site taken down after personal information leaked
This article is more than 7 years oldComedian’s site taken down after hackers took it over and posted photos of her license and passport, along with nude images allegedly from her iCloud account
Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones, who has faced widespread online abuse, appears to be the victim of a website hack with explicit images and her personal information posted online.
The standup comedian’s site JustLeslie.com was taken down on Wednesday after hackers reportedly took it over and published photos of her driver’s license and a passport, along with nude images that allegedly originated from her iCloud account.
The attack also featured a video of the gorilla Harambe, resembling many of the racist attacks the black Saturday Night Live actor has faced since she climbed to fame this year.
Jones, who did not immediately release a statement on the attack, has been outspoken about online bullying. Twitter recently responded by permanently banning Milo Yiannopoulos, a British columnist with the rightwing website Breitbart, who had aggressively targeted Jones.
Jones briefly quit Twitter after facing a wave of abusive tweets, saying: “I feel like I’m in a personal hell. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just too much.”
The comic is not the first female actor to have explicit photos released in recent years following a hack.
Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence had nude photos stolen from her Apple iCloud account and published on the website 4chan. Roughly 100 other female celebrities also had naked photos posted in that 2014 hack.
In response to the intense Twitter harassment Jones has faced, many have argued that the social media site has not done enough to protect people from bullying and threats, especially regular users who don’t attract headlines when they are attacked.
This month, Jones has been active on social media live-tweeting the Olympics, where NBC brought her on as a commentator.
After black gymnast Gabby Douglas faced intense online harassment, Jones came to her defense, asking followers to support the 20-year-old with the hashtag #LOVE4GABBYUSA.
Many tweeted their support for Jones on Wednesday, noting that black women in positions of power and in entertainment often face frequent racist and misogynistic attacks and that trolls have organized coordinated campaigns to target women of color.
Some said the hack constituted a “hate crime”, and others pointed out that her three Ghostbusters co-stars, who are white, have not faced sustained harassment or bullying.
In recent years, celebrities and other activists have pushed for stricter laws to punish perpetrators of so-called “revenge porn”.
Even Yiannopoulos, the “alt-right” agitator associated with the Gamergate movement, expressed sympathy for Jones on Wednesday.
He said in a statement: “I’m distressed to hear that Leslie Jones has been hacked and naked pictures of her have been posted online. I know we had our differences after my review of Ghostbusters but I wish her all the best at what must be a deeply upsetting time.”
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