Gabrielle Union has revealed what she went through when her private photos were hacked.
The US actress was one of tens of famous women who saw intimate photos of themselves posted online last year, after hackers broke into their Apple iCloud accounts. Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Vanessa Hudgens were also targeted, among others.
Now Gabrielle has penned an open letter about what she went through and how she's coping post-scandal.
"It felt like The Hunger Games - you're waiting to be attacked," she wrote in the British edition of Cosmopolitan. "Friends assure you it will pass and people will move on to the next thing. But in this case, that means the next victim - the next woman to have her naked body exposed to strangers against her will. And the crowd in the arena is going wild; critiquing and judging, cheering for more.
"I thought about everyone the scandal would affect: my mom, who teaches classes about Catholicism to kids; the three boys I had become stepmother to when I married Dwayne; my husband, who would always have to wonder who had seen intimate photos of me that only he was supposed to see."
Gabrielle wed basketball player Dwyane Wade just days before her photos surfaced, with the scandal hitting on the last day of their honeymoon.
At first relatively tame photos appeared on website 4chan, but more intimate images followed. Gabrielle found the situation even harder to get her around as the pictures were three years old and had all been deleted.
"I felt extreme anxiety, a complete loss of control. I suddenly understood that deleting things means nothing. What is the point of including a delete function on a phone if it doesn't really delete?" she fumed.
"Some people say the publicity surrounding the photos helps our careers. We don't need this kind of press. Jennifer Lawrence is the face of a two billion dollar franchise. It's not a career boost - it's a new form of sexual abuse."
The 42-year-old also notes that even the paparazzi were disgusted by what happened and showed her their support in the days following the photos appearing.
"I am adjusting to my new reality," she revealed. "Everything feels tainted. On Instagram people tell me they've seen me naked. Walking into my favourite pizza place, I wonder who has seen the photos."
