Jennifer Lawrence Breaks Her Silence On The "Absolutely Disgusting" Photo Hack

"It’s my body, and it should be my choice," she told Vanity Fair. "It is a sexual violation."

For the first time since dozens of stolen pictures of her surfaced online over Labor Day weekend, Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out about the whole ordeal, telling Vanity Fair she was afraid and angry.

"Just because I'm a public figure, just because I'm an actress, does not mean that I asked for this," she said. "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."

The 24-year-old actress spoke to contributing editor Sam Kashner at length about the incident, which affected a long list of popular starlets, including Kate Upton and Rihanna, in the magazine's November issue.

"I was just so afraid," she said. "I didn't know how this would affect my career."

Lawrence said she couldn't bring herself to write a statement when the news first broke that scores of pictures of her, many in various states of undress, had been stolen from her iCloud and leaked online.

"[E]very single thing that I tried to write made me cry or get angry," she said. "I started to write an apology, but I don't have anything to say I'm sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he's going to look at you."

She also recalled the horrible moment she had to call her dad to tell him about the photos.

"When I have to make that phone call to my dad and tell him what's happened … I don't care how much money I get for The Hunger Games," she said. "I promise you, anybody given the choice of that kind of money or having to make a phone call to tell your dad that something like that has happened, it's not worth it." Then, joking, she added: "Fortunately, he was playing golf, so he was in a good mood."

The Oscar winner, who was arguably the most affected by the hack, added that she considers the hack a "sex crime."

"It is a sexual violation. It's disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That's why these websites are responsible. Just the fact that somebody can be sexually exploited and violated, and the first thought that crosses somebody's mind is to make a profit from it. It's so beyond me. I just can't imagine being that detached from humanity. I can't imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside."

People should feel ashamed for looking at the photos, she said:

"Anybody who looked at those pictures, you're perpetuating a sexual offense. You should cower with shame. 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."

Many stars were affected by the hack, and photos continued to be released throughout September and October. Photos from the first male victim were released this past weekend.

As for Lawrence, she said she's slowly begun to move on from the life-changing incident.

"Time does heal, you know," she said. "I'm not crying about it anymore. I can't be angry anymore. 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."

Reddit, one of the places where the hacked photos of Lawrence and others appeared, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Condé Nast, which owns Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair's November issue hits newsstands Oct. 9.

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