It wasn't a good weekend for women. Regardless of how you feel about the leaked nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Kirsten Dunst, it was an invasion of privacy — of intimacy, even. The event has forced us all to confront our feelings about sexual violence, celebrity as a phenomenon, and the Cloud, which is feeling less and less lofty these days.
Some people see the leaked photos in fairly black-and-white terms. If you don't want to have someone steal your nude pics, don't photograph yourself naked, right? (Wrong. Sharing other people's private nude photos is the hallmark of creepdom.)
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You'll find this polarized opinion and many more on Twitter, where 140 characters go quite a long way. If you're a celebrity with thousands or millions of followers, these thoughts go even further. Imagine Lord of the Flies, except the worst people you know always have the conch.
So, when the celebrity nudes went viral this weekend, so too did the musings of a few famous men. Because who better to weigh in on the ethics of a woman's body than a guy who used to be on that show you watched? And, why stop at the photos in question? One celebrity went ahead and addressed the hallmarks of rape. Ahead, three celebs who broke our hearts on Twitter this week.
Photo: REX USA.CeeLo Green Thinks It's Rape Only If You Can Remember It
The singer was sentenced on Friday to three years probation and 360 hours of community service for drugging a woman with ecstasy in 2012. He escaped sexual assault charges due to lack of evidence. The woman woke up next to the former Voice judge and couldn't remember what had happened the night before.
In response, Green posted a series of tweets in which he compared rape to home invasion, and claimed "women who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!!" Woof.
This was followed by a deletion of his entire Twitter account, which he later reinstated and thanked God/attempted to correct his offensive statements. It all felt too little too late.
Photo: Everett Collection/REX USA.Ricky Gervais Blames The Victims
"Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer."
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This tweet has been deleted, along with the rest of Gervais' tweets about how jokes are just jokes, and how making fun of the celeb nude photos doesn't mean he condones the actions behind stealing them. Then, he posted bunch of pictures showing how involved he is with saving animals, as if to make us forget his lapse in judgement.
Photo: MediaPunch Inc/REX USA.Perez Hilton Wasn't Thinking
Part of me wants to sympathize with Perez Hilton. As someone who also produces celebrity news content, I understand the fast-paced nature of the work. There's the rush to share the story, then dissect and unpack its larger meaning later. But, as a news source — and one not exactly new to the game — Hilton also has an ethical responsibility that can't be ignored. When he chose to share censored versions of Jennifer Lawrence's nudes, he abandoned those ethics.
"Upon further reflection and just sitting with my actions, I don't feel comfortable even keeping the censored photos up. I am removing them," he tweeted. No matter the sincerity of his apology, the damage is already done.
It remains unclear how long the images were up on Hilton's site. What is clear, however, is that he was trying to capitalize on a private attack, then tried to save face with his fans. It's especially disheartening to hear his claims of "I'm not trying to make this about me" and insistence that he didn't remove the images at the behest of Lawrence's staff. In fact, his tweets and video apology are likely a direct result of the forthcoming legal consequences.
A representative for Lawrence told Mashable, "This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence." Now that the FBI is involved in the investigation, "I wasn't thinking" isn't gonna cut it.