Pharon Square to nude photo leakers: Not Cool

You know what I love? Celebrity gossip. You know what I DON'T love? Gross invasions of privacy. To me, the line between the two is quite well-defined. Do/say something in public when there are photographers around? Fair game. Having your private, behind-closed-doors stuff taken and posted online? Uncool, bro. Super uncool. And? Also? Worthy of pressing criminal charges.

And then I read about the people who dumped a bunch of personal, private photos of celebs online and I felt super disappointed in humankind.

Now, I like celebrity news as much as the next guy; in fact, I LOVE it. But I’m a fickle fan. See, I hate obvious fame-whores (read: any and everything Kardashian); and I have absolutely no interest in rumors spread by "unnamed sources" that put the marriages, parenting skills, dating life and private fertility issues in the spotlight, usually without any merit whatsoever. NO THANKS. That’s REAL LIFE, people, and you just don’t mess with that.

Now, I WILL read interviews and stories about who stepped out with whom at Ivy and think, "Hmmm, they are probs dating." Am I making the problem worse? I really, super hope not.

I feel like kids, private information, personal photos, weddings (where paparazzi are NOT invited), births, medical issues and other similar areas are NOT MY BUSINESS. I think that celebs should try and prepare for their picture to be taken in public, but I don't think their safety and privacy are any less important than mine. 

I think the fact that I can make that distinction is why I can tell myself that I am not part of the problem that created this insatiable appetite for celebrity pics at any cost. 

I read this comment on Reddit today in response to the leaked photos, and one regular human said something like "Somewhere, there is a 24-year-old woman crying because the entire world has seen her naked," and it really struck a nerve. 

I imagined what would happen if I were the one seeing private pictures of myself online that were put there without my permission. I thought about the time I took a picture of a bruise on my thigh because it was so gross...the bruise AND the thigh. I thought about the time I took a silly picture of me with my blankie wrapped around my face and sent it to Geo in Alabama and wrote "Blankie monster."

I’m guessing the reason that I can grasp on to the ridiculous notion that my personal communication devices are in any way private stems from the fact that no one on the planet cares about my bruised thigh. But when we encourage or ignore the fact that hacking/public release of private photos totally happens to people ALL THE TIME if they are famous is really not making the situation any better for any of us.

I realize this isn't my typical post; I know it’s not funny or sarcastic or anything I usually write about. But because I am a consumer of entertainment and fawn over famous people, I feel like it’s necessary for me to draw my line in the sand and say that stealing from or violating the basic expectations of privacy from people is definitely wrong and not something I will ever support. I hope you’ll all agree.