She Broke Her Silence on the Nude Photo Leak

Jennifer Lawrence is calling the hacker out on his crap. It's been a month since the Internet was flooded with stolen nude photographs of numerous celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and many, many more. However, despite the fact that Lawrence is, unfortunately, the most notorious of all the victims, she is one of the few that didn't immediately make a personal statement about the hack. That is, until now. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence spoke out about the nude photo scandal for the first time and she knows that she has nothing to be sorry for.

"Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this. It does not mean that it comes with the territory. It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world," said Lawrence in the most memorable part of an already powerful interview. Honestly, it's hard to narrow it down, but these are the words resonate the most. "I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for."

And just like that, everyone gets the memo that the lawsuits that Lawrence has brought against distributers of her private photos weren't just for show. She's really taken a stand against the victim blaming these scandals tend to induce. And although there was really no need to explain herself on this particular issue, Lawrence reveals that she tried many times to write a statement about the hack when it happened. Honestly, considering the magnitude of the violation of her privacy, she didn't need to give up more of her privacy to speak out now or ever. But she was in a loving and healthy relationship for four years. Sending an intimate photo of herself to her long distance boyfriend is a normal and personal choice. She is not sorry. And that's so important.

Why should Lawrence apologize for the fact that she was taken advantage of? Why should Lawrence apologize for a leak that she did not consent to? Why should Lawrence or any victim of illegally shared nude photos ever, ever be the ones who have to apologize? It makes no sense and it should come as no surprise that Lawrence wouldn't hesitate to point that out. She also went on to call out not only the hacker but also the people who went searching for the photographs, including people that she herself knew personally. "It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime. It is a sexual violation... Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense... Even people who I know and love say, ‘Oh, yeah, I looked at the pictures.’ I don’t want to get mad, but at the same time I’m thinking, I didn’t tell you that you could look at my naked body."

It truly speaks to Lawrence's warrior spirit that even a month after it happened, even though she found it difficult to talk about until now, she still refuses to roll over and take this lying down. No one who helped, indirectly or otherwise, to perpetrate this sex crime escapes her blame or escapes the fact that they should "cower with shame." In speaking up on behalf of herself, Lawrence is also speaking to the experience of every woman who has ever had her intimate photos shared without her consent, of every other victim — male and female, true and false — of the hack. It's times like this when we are really, truly reminded of exactly why the world loves Lawrence. She is a fighter on the most relatable level and her words carry such meaning, especially when she uses them for this kind of good.

"Time does heal, you know. I’m not crying about it anymore. I can’t be angry anymore," said Lawrence at the end of the piece. "I can’t have my happiness rest on these people being caught, because they might not be. I need to just find my own peace." Her outlook — that she is moving on even if she can't forgive or forget — is an extremely powerful one. Because, at the end of the day, she is absolutely right. The more days pass, the more unlikely it seems that the FBI is actually going to track this hacker down and stop him. At this point, Lawrence can either live under the storm cloud of his so-called "scandal" or she can put it behind her and grow from it. We should have known the actress behind Katniss Everdeen would choose the latter.

Image: Getty Images