Jennifer Lawrence Requests Investigation After Nude Photos of the Actress Are Posted Online (UPDATE: FBI Is 'Addressing the Matter')

UPDATE — 5:20 p.m. ET: The FBI said in a statement Monday afternoon that they are "addressing" the incident.

"The FBI is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter," a statement said. "Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time."

A spokesperson for Apple told Recode they are "active investigating" whether their system was hacked as part of the leak.

—

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Erica Ritz.

--

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Lawrence has contacted authorities to investigate who stole and posted nude images of the Oscar winner online, a publicist for the actress said.

Intimate images of the actress, who stars in "The Hunger Games" film franchise and won an Academy Award for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook," began appearing online on Sunday. Naked images purporting to be of other female stars were also posted, although the authenticity of many of the images could not be confirmed. The source of the leak was unclear.

"This is a flagrant violation of privacy," Lawrence's publicist Liz Mahoney wrote in a statement. "The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."

Jennifer Lawrence attends Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' party at a private villa on May 17, 2014 in Cannes, France. Credit David M. Benett/Getty Images for Lionsgate

Mahoney declined to provide further details, including which authorities were contacted. Lawrence, 24, is a three-time Oscar nominee.

The FBI has investigated previous leaks of nude celebrity images, including leaks involving Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and footage of television sports reporter Erin Andrews in a Tennessee hotel room. Those cases resulted in convictions.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller declined comment on whether the agency was involved.

How widespread the hacking of celebrities photos was isn't immediately clear. Some of the images were quickly denounced as fakes.

Actress Scarlett Johansson attends the UK Film Premiere of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' at Westfield London on March 20, 2014 in London, England. Credit Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Some cybersecurity experts speculated that hackers may have obtained a cache of private celebrity images by exploiting weaknesses in an online image-storing platform.

"It is important for celebrities and the general public to remember that images and data no longer just reside on the device that captured it," security researcher Ken Westin wrote in a blog post Monday. "Once images and other data are uploaded to the cloud, it becomes much more difficult to control who has access to it, even if we think it is private."

Private information and images of celebrities are frequent targets for hackers. Last year, a site posted credit reports, Social Security numbers and other financial info on celebrities, including Jay Z and his wife Beyonce, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher and many others.

Johansson, Kunis and Aguilera were hacked by a Florida man, Christopher Chaney, who used publicly available information to hack into the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry.

"I have been truly humiliated and embarrassed," Johansson said in a tearful videotaped statement played in court at Chaney's sentencing in December 2012.

"That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy," Aguilera wrote in a statement before Chaney's sentencing.

___

Associated Press Writer Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.