Key Redditor in Celeb Leak: My Privacy's Being Invaded

Vents frustration in Reddit chat
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2014 7:20 AM CDT
Key Redditor in Celeb Leak: My Privacy's Being Invaded
Jennifer Lawrence speaks on stage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

A central figure in the emergence of hacked celebrity nude photos is facing media scrutiny, and he's not particularly enjoying it. Following a Washington Post story on him, Reddit user Johnsmcjohn expressed frustration. "Why is my being on an asexuality website or an Aspergers board relevant" to his involvement in the leak? he asks in a Reddit discussion, as the Verge reports. "If the press wants to send me thru the ringer, so be it. I won't be bullied into silence."

"I don't like it, but so be it," he continues. "The Nixon Administration couldn't stop the WP, so I didn't try to stop them." The 33-year-old Johnsmcjohn—whose real name the Post didn't reveal—created the forum on Reddit where the pictures were posted, though he doesn't seem to have been involved in the hack itself. Does he feel guilty? "No. I created it on a whim and just rode the wave as it went viral," he says, as per Boing Boing. "My only regret is that the admins folded to legal pressure." Reddit has closed the forum, the Verge notes. (More Reddit stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X