Hundreds of explicit images of celebrities including nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence leaked onto the internet on Sunday (August 31, 2014) via the 4chan website. Images of more than 100 well-known actors, singer and celebrities were part of the leak, which is rumored to be part of a major hacking of Apple's iCloud service. 

Jennifer LawrenceJennifer Lawrence confirmed the nude pictures were real [Getty/MIke Coppola]

As well as the Hunger Games actress - the most high profile - the list also included Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kirsten Dunst, Winona Ryder and Aubrey Plaza. 4chan quickly removed the thread but the images have been circulating since.

More: check out our Jennifer Lawrence pictures

Publicists and spokespeople were quick to offer comment though only a handful denied the pictures were real. A spokesman for Jennifer Lawrence said: "This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."

Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead confirmed the pictures were of her but tweeted, "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."

"Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked."

Elizabeth WinsteadElizabeth Winstead also confirmed the nude pictures were real [Getty/Michael Buckner]

The celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton initially posted censored and uncensored versions of the photos on his site, but has since removed them and apologised.

"I acted in haste just to get the post up and didn't really think things through. I'm sorry," he said. 

"Upon further reflection and just sitting with my actions, I don't feel comfortable even keeping the censored photos up. I am removing them."

More: check out our Mary Elizabeth Winstead pictures

According to the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Police Department have "no knowledge" of the hacking and the FBI said they could not confirm or deny knowledge of the hacking. Regarding speculation concerning iCloud, Apple has not yet commented. 

Should the FBI get involved, which is now highly likely, the hacker may want to look of his shoulder (we're assuming it's a guy, it probably is). In 2012, a federal judge sentenced a man who hacked into personal online accounts of Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis, to 10 years in prison. Nude pictures taken by Johansson were meant for her then-husband Ryan Reynolds but were leaked onto the internet by Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida.

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