14 DAY TRIAL // Several A-listers were publicly embarrassed over Labor Day Weekend, when a hacker broke into their iCloud accounts and posted their private, mostly nude photos on 4chan. Actress and model Denise Richards came very close to being one of them, or so she thinks.
The celebrity photo hack is believed to be one of the biggest so far, and is now being investigated internally at Apple but also by the FBI. Apple has declined any share of responsibility in the breach, saying it wasn’t a bug in their backup storing service iCloud that the hackers exploited, and that the attack was targeted at these celebrities.
On Twitter, Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife Denise Richards says that she too was targeted, but she was smarter than to act on the “invitation” she was sent via email.
“had over 10emails sent 2 me asking for my password & if I didn't reply with the info my accounts would be shut down good thing I didn't send,” she writes.
She doesn’t mention the iCloud hack anywhere in the tweet, but the Daily Mail believes that this is what she’s talking about, because this is her only tweet since the weekend, after the one in which she tells her followers she hopes they had a fun and relaxing Labor Day holiday.
Denise is convinced that her photos could have also ended up online if she responded to those emails and revealed her password, which, by the way, is something no one should ever do, no matter who solicits said password.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, the two female celebrities who got the most media attention in the hack (mostly because one’s an Oscar-winning actress and the other is the hottest model of the moment), are having their attorneys keep a close eye on the investigation and the case, so that they can sue whoever will distribute their illegally obtained photos.
Lawrence’s team seems to have come across an obstacle, as several websites refuse to take down the photos of her that are not selfies. If they’re not selfies, they were taken by another person who legally owns the copyright of the photos.
Unless Lawrence can provide the name of the rightful copyright holder and get her or him on her side, she cannot sue those websites for hosting photos of her, even if they’re private and even if they were obtained through hacking, which is obviously an illegal activity.
Other celebrities targeted in the hack include Victoria Justice, McKayla Maroney and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
had over 10emails sent 2 me asking for my password & if I didn't reply with the info my accounts would be shut down good thing I didn't send
— Denise Richards (@DENISE_RICHARDS) September 3, 2014