Jennifer Lawrence's Nude Photo Leaker Is Going To Prison

Jennifer Lawrence Red Sparrow

George Garofano, the hacker who released private nude photographs of Jennifer Lawrence and other female celebrities online, is going to prison. One of four people charged in the celeb hacking scandal from 2014, the 26-year-old admitted that he pretended to be a member of Apple's online security in order to access usernames and passwords for high-profile celebrities around the world. Garofano then hacked into the iCloud accounts of several stars, including Lawrence, which then resulted in the private photos of The Hunger Games actress and several other celebrities being leaked online. The judge sentenced Garofano to serve eight months in federal prison, along with three years of supervised release once he serves his time in jail.

As it was reported by TMZ, George Garofano's sentence is similar to the ones sentenced to the other three hackers who were caught in this scandal. Their terms ranged from nine months to eighteen months in prison. The scandal saw the release of dozens of nude photos from many different celebs, including Kate Upton, Kaley Cuoco, Kirsten Dunst and several others. While the blame was initially placed on Apple and iCloud when this situation happened, the tech company claimed they had no involvement with the hacking, and that it was the result of outside sources taking their services. This initial hack resulted in other leaked photos making their way online in the years to follow, including male celebs like Tyler Posey and Charlie Puth.

Recently, Jennifer Lawrence performed nude scenes in her latest film, Red Sparrow, and she discussed how the experience of shooting those scenes was empowering, whereas the experience of being at the center of this celeb nude photo hack was completely dehumanizing to the targeted celebrity.

I read this script that I'm dying to do And the one thing that's getting in my way is nudity. And I realized there's a difference between consent and not. And I showed up for the first day and I did it. And I felt empowered. I feel like something that was taken from me I got back and am using in my art.

Of course, the idea of having your private photos leaked online without your consent is a terrifying ordeal, and we hope hackers realize that releasing these sensitive photos online can result in serious penalties and prison sentences. It seems that the main four people who were responsible for the initial hack are now facing such consequences for their misdeeds. That said, this controversial celeb photo hack is not the last time celebrities have had private photography stolen. Most recently, Paris Hilton reported that she had nude photos taken from her private accounts as well as a whole lot of money when her accounts were reported to be hacked earlier this summer. No matter how famous you are, you can be the subject of hacking.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.