Does the Hacking of Leslie Jones’ Website Qualify as Revenge Porn?

Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones has been in the news quite a bit this summer. She starred in one of the summer’s biggest movies, Ghostbusters, and even helped with NBC’s coverage of the Rio Olympics, but her presence in the media has exposed some of our society’s worst elements. Numerous Twitter users attacked Jones on racial grounds, leading to a lifetime Twitter ban of a prominent blogger. But the biggest attack of all occurred on August 24, when her personal website was hacked by parties who exposed her driver’s license, passport, and other personal information and made more racially-charged attacks. In addition, the hackers publically posted nude photos of Jones. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security (among others, presumably) are investigating the hack. While hacking of someone’s private website is absolutely a crime, the public exposure of nude photos of Jones against her will raises the question of whether the hackers could be liable for revenge porn based on California law.

What is Revenge Porn?

Revenge porn is a crime that has arisen in the digital age, and it is essentially the online posting of intimate or sexually provocative images of a person without their consent. About half of US states have passed laws making revenge porn a crime, although legal scholars note that some of these state laws were hastily drafted in response to the growing and unchecked scourge of revenge porn, making enforcement of those laws problematic.

California’s Anti-Revenge Porn Laws

California, however, has a well-drafted anti-revenge porn criminal law which makes it a crime to post revenge porn, and also has a whole separate civil law which gives victims of revenge porn the ability to sue the people who post images for monetary damages. California’s criminal law defines revenge porn as the intentional distribution of “the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable person” or the image of various sexual acts, “under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image shall remain private, the person distributing the image knows or should know that distribution of the image will cause serious emotional distress, and the person depicted suffers that distress.” Certainly, California law would consider the posting of Jones’ nude pictures as a criminal act of revenge porn.

California’s civil law which gives victims of revenge porn the right to sue for damages states that when a person posts another person’s private photos, videos, or other reproductions, the victim can sue the perpetrator for:

  • Damages for defamation of character
  • Damages for invasion of privacy
  • Damages for the emotional distress
  • Damages for pain and suffering
  • Attorney’s fees

It is not necessarily clear from the facts whether California law would apply to the facts of the Jones case (state criminal law jurisdiction is based on a number of factors, including the residence of the victim, where the crime occurred, and so on), but California law would and should treat the Jones’ hack as an act of revenge porn.

Help for Victims of Revenge Porn

If you have been the victim of revenge porn in California, legal help is available to hold the wrongdoers accountable and provide monetary recovery for your losses. The Law Offices of Omar Gastelum, PLC in Newport Beach and Los Angeles aggressively pursues the rights of revenge porn victims and can help you to get the justice you deserve. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.