Jennifer Lawrence does not take wrongdoings against her quietly. The Oscar-winning actress, 24, spoke boldly and confidently in the new issue of Vanity Fair, defending herself and condemning those involved in the now-infamous celebrity nude photo leak.
"Just because I'm a public figure, just because I'm an actress, does not mean that I asked for this," said Lawrence, whose digital accounts were hacked this past August, producing personal nude photos of the actress. "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."
Lawrence was one of the first and most famous among dozens of stars whose privacy was invaded with the hack, later joined by the likes of Kate Upton, Kim Kardashian, and Vanessa Hudgens, whose nudes made their way online as well.
When the photos first made the rounds, "I was just so afraid," Lawrence told Vanity Fair. "I didn't know how this would affect my career."
The American Hustle star immediately released a statement through her spokesperson after the leak, calling the incident "a flagrant violation of privacy" — a stance Lawrence maintained in her cover story interview with Vanity Fair.
"It is not a scandal," she said. "It is 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."
It isn't just those posting the images and the websites that are hosting them that Lawrence holds accountable, however. She also condemned people who chose to visit the sites to view the nude pictures.
"Anybody who looked at those pictures, you're perpetuating a sexual offense," Lawrence told VF. "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."
The Serena actress went on to explain that while her photos were not intended for the public eye, there was one person in particular that they were meant for: her longtime boyfriend Nicholas Hoult, whom she split from this past August.
"Every single thing that I tried to write made me cry or get angry," she explained of her initial reaction. "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."
It wasn't just Hoult that Lawrence had to face after the traumatic transgression. "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 admitted. "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."
After making the tough phone calls and processing her rage, Lawrence told Vanity Fair that she is finding a way to move past the leak.
"Time does heal, you know," she told the magazine. "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."
