August 24, 2016

Bigoted Attack on Actress Leslie Jones Continues, as Hackers Post Photos and Personal Info

It’s “racist & sexist,” tweets Questlove. “It’s disgusting.”

Leslie Jones<a href="http://www.zumapress.com/zpdwnld/20160803_zaf_rx3_2165.jpg?type=hires">Wwd</a>/Rex Shutterstock via ZUMA Press

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Update (8/25/2016): The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is investigating the breach of Leslie Jones’ personal website.

Comedian and SNL star Leslie Jones has been targeted once again with aggressive online harassment. Today, hackers who broke into her personal website posted what appear to be nude photos and images of her passport and driver’s license. (Whether the explicit photos and ID images are real has not been confirmed.) The hackers also posted on Jones’ website—which was taken offline after the hack was discovered—a picture of Harambe, the gorilla shot and killed recently at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Last month, Jones was the target of a deluge of online abuse related to her co-starring role in the reboot of Ghostbusters. Some of the harassment involved racial slurs and photos of gorillas posted to her Twitter feed. Breitbart News technology editor Milo Yiannapolous—whose antics are detailed by Sara Posner in her recent piece on his boss, Trump campaign director Stephen Bannon—was banned from Twitter for helping incite the torrent of racist trolls. Jones has yet to comment on the hack but described her previous experience as her own “personal hell.”

Jones later reappeared on Twitter to post updates about the Olympics. During that time, she defended gymnast Gabby Douglas from an onslaught of online harassment, which began after Douglas stood at attention during the national anthem rather than placing her hand on her heart. After her website was hacked, supporters quickly came to her defense on social media. Here’s musician Questlove and Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton:

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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