Jordan Strauss/Invision/APKate Upton is the latest celebrity confirmed to have had private pictures stolen and posted as part of a massive leak of nude and risqué celebrity photos, which were circulated widely on social media on Sunday and have been brought to the attention of the FBI.
The "photo dump," which took place on Sunday, marks what is believed to be one of the largest celeb hacking scandals and privacy breaches in history. In addition to the actress and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, it has also been confirmed that Jennifer Lawrence and Mary Elizabeth Winstead had private photos stolen and distributed without their permission.
"This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy," her lawyer told E! News. "We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible."
It is unclear how many of the naked and scantily-clad pictures that were posted are authentic. One shows a woman resembling Upton covering her bare chest, while others appear to be naked selfies of her and boyfriend and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.
Lawrence's spokesperson had made a similar comment, adding that authorities have been notified, while Winstead responded to the leak of her photos on Twitter.
Upton has posed topless before at professional photo shoots and in social media posts and was also photographed naked, with body paint, for Sports Illustrated. She said in July that she does not plan to pose for nude magazine Playboy any time soon.
Online users have speculated that all the racy photos, which were first spotted on an 4Chan thread, were possibly collected by more than one hacker and stolen from victims' online file storage accounts. Authorities have not commented about the leak and no hacking suspects have been identified.
Stealing and distributing photos without permission could carry a jail sentence. In 2012, a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for releasing private photos of Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis.
Actress and writer Lena Dunham, who was not targeted in the nude photo leak and has appeared naked onscreen several times on her HBO show Girls, took to Twitter to have her say about the ongoing scandal.
The way in which you share your body must be a CHOICE. Support these women and do not look at these pictures.
? Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 1, 2014—Reporting by Marc Malkin