With naked photos of Cassie that leaked online (twice in one WEEK!), and now, what may be photos of Rihanna naked, we're starting to wonder if taking naked photos of yourself (and having your naked photos leak onto the Internet) is the new Lost?
According to a study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (they get PAID to study sexting!) one in every five teenagers has sent or posted naked photos of themselves. Combine the inexplicable popularity of sending naked photos of yourself (what ever happened to giving your love a lock of your hair? So much more romantic!), using your dog's name as your password for everything, and a gnarly break-up, plus a few easy peasy keystrokes, and you've got an unfortunate recipe for public humiliation in the form everyone seeing your naughty bits and birthmarks. (Including your teachers and parents! GROSS!) And if you're famous, you've got even more to lose. Just ask pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Pete Wentz, Lily Allen, and more, who've had their naked or naughty photos accidentally shared with the world -- and fortunately recovered from the fall out to pull off career comebacks.
And remember -- if you're gonna take naked pictures of yourself... don't.
Cassie: Not only did Cassie make headlines recently for shaving half her head bald, but this week not one but two naked photos of her leaked online after they were stolen from her personal computer. Cassie admitted that the photos were hers, referred to the person who leaked the naked photos as "evil," and told the world that we all basically need to get over her boobies and get on with our lives.
Pete Wentz: Pete Wentz was sending naked Sidekick photos of himself back before it was all the rage -- and back when people still used Sidekicks. His naked photo incident went down in 2006, when Pete proved to the world, once and for all, that he really likes Morrissey. Pete himself summed up the penisgate incident quite succinctly when he told MTV News, "If you really don't want pictures of yourself to end up on the Internet, don't take the pictures." Wise words from the now-family man.
Vanessa Hudgens: Disney darling and "Sneakernight" singer Vanessa Hudgens suffered her own sex scandal when several naked and nearly-naked photos found their way to the Internet in 2007. Vanessa apologized to her fans, made four movies (including High School Musical 3) following the incident, and scrubbed away the scandal by continuing her stint as the face of Neutrogena. Vanessa was named one of People's most beautiful people in 2009, plus, she dates Zac Efron, so she wins.
+ Lily Allen, Miley, and Britney after the jump!
Lily Allen: Not all naked photos are leaked by anonymous hackers or angry exes. Sometimes celebrities leak their own photos. Such was the case when, in January 2009, Lily Allen accidentally, drunkenly texted a topless photo of herself to Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson. The always saucy singer cleverly joked that she sent the photo to the wrong Rick and that she'd meant to send it to Rick Astley. Nice save!
Britney Spears: In May 2007, Britney faced a scandalette when topless photos of her, in a denim skirt, no shirt, holding only little red flowers on her breasts, hit the Internet. Eh, we've seen worse. But we've definitely seen better -- like Britney completely naked in her "Womanizer" video. And Britney's scandal-ette barely registered on her career timeline; while Blackout bombed, Circus went to #1.
Miley Cyrus: So many Miley scandals, so little time. From Miley's Vanity Fair photos (seriously, what was the big deal?) to her bra-and-underwear photos, Miley's treated naughty photo scandals like the mini mogul she is -- say you're sorry, and move on. The scandals haven't seemed to hurt Miley's success -- in 2009, she wrote a book, Hannah Montana: The Movie opened at #1 its first weekend out and grossed more than $70 million, and the Miley Cyrus brand is still worth $1.37 billion Disney dollars. Oh yeah, and plenty of people are even naming their kids "Miley" -- Miley is one of the most popular girls' names of 2009, proving, at least indirectly, that even if you take photos of yourself in the shower, people will still name their kids after you.