The Emma Watson Photo “Leak” Is a Hoax

The "leak" of Emma Watson photos turned out to be a hoax intended to start a viral anti-4chan campaign.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Following her speech for gender equality at the UN last weekend, Emma Watson was threatened with a similar photo leak that has happened to celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Gabrielle Union. This time, however, the warning was leveled via a website called EmmaYouAreNext.com. It even had a countdown timer and everything:

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But it turns out, it was all a hoax. If you try to go to EmmaYouAreNext.com now, you will be redirected to the website for a group called Rantic. According to the website, “Rantic is a social media marketing enterprise that has participated in some of the most viral campaigns and music videos,” and was founded by someone named Brad Cockingham.

With a name like Cockingham, the jokes write themselves.

The site's mission, it seems, is to somehow get 4chan.org (which hosted many of the photos from “The Fappening”) shut down via some sort of government intervention. There is a petition to President Obama available for you to sign using a “social signature,” although it’s unclear if that actually means anything.

While the viability of this campaign is unclear, one thing is for sure: this Brad Cockingham fellow is now undoubtedly going to get hacked by 4chan users and the rest of the mysterious "deep internet."

[via CNN]

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