Bieber nude photos leak; fans demand respect.
On Wednesday, New York’s Daily News had a Kim Kardashian moment, nearly breaking the Internet by posting a series of nude Justin Bieber photos. The 21-year-old’s representatives at the law firm of Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Light LLP sent a cease and desist letter to the publication, demanding the immediate removal of the photos from its website, in addition to compliance within 12 hours of receipt. “We recently became informed that your company has obtained and is distributing unauthorized photographs of our Client including images showing him without clothing,” reads the letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.A day after the NSFW photos, which showed him fully nude as he took a dip in the pool at his Bora Bora villa, surfaced online the Boyfriend singer has shared a semi-naked snap of his own.
The photos — which look to have been taken by paparazzi with a telephoto lens, but have not been confirmed as real — were posted by Twitter users and published by the New York Daily News. The pop star’s legal team, according to TMZ, claim the photos were a “clear violation of his privacy” and they are prepared to take legal action. On Thursday evening the 21-year-old posted a captionless sultry black and white shot on his Instagram account, where he had his rippling six-pack and buff arms on full display. Even the most hardcore Beliebers were shocked after coming face-to-face with his epic tan lines and very white bottom when the pictures, taken while he was holidaying in Bora Bora with rumoured love interest Jayde Pierce earlier this week, hit the internet. While most people were pretty pleased with what they saw others questioned what people would be saying if it was a woman who had their privacy invaded in the same way.
Haven and criminal defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi — to see if they agree with the Bieber team’s approach and whether the photos are even legal in the first place. “Justin Bieber is what you generally refer to as a public figure, and when people are in plain view or public view, they’re exposing themselves to the world, and anyone can take a picture of you when you’re standing out in public view,” Haven tells Billboard. “In my opinion, given the fact that he’s a public figure, given the fact that he was in plain view or view that was accessible to the public, this just goes with the territory.” Bieber was on vacation with model Jayde Pierce when the two were photographed lying around the residence nude. He is constantly posting sexy images of himself on Twitter and on social media, which clearly shows that he is using his sexuality to engage the public. If, on the other hand, it is made into a thousand posters, then Justin Bieber can absolutely stop that from happening by filing an injunction or is entitled to get paid for that because that is commercial use of the image and not news use of the image.” For example, “Just because TMZ generates revenue does not mean that that constitutes commercial use of the picture.
What would Haven advise as Bieber’s next step? “I really don’t think there’s anything that they can do,” he says. “Once something becomes part of the public domain, it’s kind of like letting the genie out of the bottle: You just can’t put it back in. You can write letters, you can request that people take down the posting, you can request that certain agencies and entities not use them, but I’m not sure if there’s any real legal recourse against anyone who displays these photos after they’ve been publicly disseminated.
