After two naked photos of her leaked online on September 14th, Scarlett Johansson immediately met with the FBI and demanded that the individuals who hacked into her email and personal cell phone and lifted the pictures be charged with capital offenses. Reports as to the FBI’s progress on the investigation have been hard to find but instead of shying away from questions regarding the incident, Johansson has decided to make it her mission to advocate that people who work in the public arena still have the right to expect that some degree of their lives remain private.
While in Nairobi, Johansson sat down with CNN reporter David McKenzie and surprisingly didn’t hesitate or flinch when the conversation reached the topic of the private lives of celebrities. Even though McKenzie did not flat out ask Johansson how she felt that two nude photos of her had surfaced on the internet recently, the actress understood that addressing the topic as a whole was McKenzie’s way of asking about the hacking scandal, and she replied “Who doesn’t want to protect their own privacy? Just because you’re in the spotlight, or an actor, or make films doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to your own personal privacy. And I think when that is seiged in some way, it feels unjust, it feels wrong.”
What happened to Johansson was unquestionably wrong. There is no doubt what took place was a criminal act and whoever is responsible should be prosecuted for it. However, I’m a bit torn on the rest of it. I agree with her in that celebrities are entitled to their private lives, and I also agree with her that it’s wrong for people to be so desperate to infringe and capitalize on them. But I feel like an actress with such an extensive career should know there are just always going to be some people in the world who don’t operate like normal human beings, and that they’re going to be constantly looking for ways to make her life miserable. Johansson seems like an intelligent and grounded woman, and considering how there have been trillions of incidences where nude photos of a celebrity were released without the his or her consent, it’s confusing for me to watch her sit there and be shocked that a person would want to harm her in this way. I guess I just expected her to be more aware that since she’s a Hollywood icon, she needs to be a different kind of careful than the rest of us.
Source: CNN
