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Jennifer Lawrence

FBI looking into leaked nude photos of Lawrence, Upton

Lorena Blas
USA TODAY Life
Actress/model Kate Upton's lawyer says she will pursue anyone responsible for distributing or duplicating leaked nude photos of her over the Labod Day weekend.

The FBI said late Monday that it was investigating leaked nude photos that targeted Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

The agency told the Associated Press that it was addressing accusations that online accounts of celebrities, including Oscar winner Lawrence, had been hacked, leading to the posting of their nude photographs online.

In addition, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company was investigating whether any iCloud accounts were compromised, according to the AP.

Representatives for supermodel-turned-actress Upton, 22, and Lawrence, 24, who plays heroine Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movie franchise, issued statements about intimate pictures that first appeared on image-sharing site 4Chan over the weekend.

"The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence," the movie star's reps, Bryna Rifkin and Liz Mahoney, said in a statement.

Upton's lawyer, Lawrence Shire, issued a similar statement to Us magazine: "This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy." He added, "We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible."

Other celebs targeted in the leak include: Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice, Sky High and Final Destination 3 actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, pop star Ariana Grande and actress Kirsten Dunst.

Justice took to Twitter to deny the authenticity of the photos that appeared to be of her. She wrote: "These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*"

But Winstead scolded those who looked at her shots, and said she felt for the others affected. "To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves," she posted on Twitter.

Dunst tweeted some words, perhaps acknowledging a potential cause of the leaked images: "Thank you iCloud."

The authenticity of the other photos has not been verified..

AP reports that the FBI said it was "aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high-profile individuals, and is addressing the matter."

"Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time," spokeswoman Laura Eimiller wrote in a statement, according to the wire service.

After the images appeared, Engadget, a Web magazine that covers consumer electronics and technology, reported that Apple has fixed a bug that could have enabled hackers to gain access to iCloud accounts — and then potentially leak nude photos of celebrities — according to a tech report Monday.

According to Engadget, the Find My iPhone software was recently found to have been vulnerable to hackers who repeatedly try different passwords, seeking one that provides entry.

Contributing: Alison Maxwell and Kevin McCoy

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