A Deliberate Accident

Earlier in the day the internet started buzzing with the scoop that "Newsroom" star Alison Pill had accidentally tweeted a topless picture to all 14,000 of her followers (a number which I'm sure has gone up since). Of course, within a few minutes her publicist had sent out a press release saying this was all one giant misunderstanding, the picture was intended to be private, Ms. Pill isn't tech-savvy and look behind your ear, is this your card? You know, all the usual moves to try and get the public to stop looking at pictures they were never meant to see, none of which ever works. The picture was also quickly taken down, but we all know that at this point that doesn't help because people take screengrabs of everything and the snapshot quickly started making the rounds, with most people simultaneously trying to find out where they could find an uncensored photo as well as just who the hell Alison Pill is (one question being more important than the other). I'm sure it was quite the embarrassing moment. The problem is that I am simply too cynical and have some questions as to just how accidental this whole thing really was.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about how I found it very convenient that many C and D-list actors have ghost stories to tell just as the Biography Channel launched a new "Celebrity Ghost Stories" series. Well, the same thing goes here. I can't help but wonder why is it always the fringe actors on shows with mild ratings who have their personal pictures 'leaked' onto the web. If you were a hacker, wouldn't you be aiming higher than the third lead on a cable drama which appears to have the title of "Best Show No One Is Watching"? If you got some A-lister's vacation pictures that would bring you far more attention, even if they were wearing full-body wet suits. Some of these people who claimed to have been hacked aren't even the most famous person in their own family. If the news is to be believed teenagers today are taking compromising pictures of themselves every minute of every day [Sidebar: good luck, parents] and yet you never hear of those pictures accidentally being tweeted out. Part of that could be attributed to fame and it not being seen as newsworthy, but I just can't help feeling like the bigger reason is that it happens far more often to people who push the boundaries of the word 'celebrity'.

I'll give this girl credit because at least she owned up to it, admitting the picture was of her and saying she meant to hit delete but hit send. Many stars try to slip the old, "That doesn't even look like me!" excuse passed us, which usually convinces me they are the ones who sent the photo out. Playing stupid may get you far in Hollywood, but it just insult our intelligence. But, even her admission makes me question how much of an accident this was. If her phone is anything like mine than text messages and Twitter are no where near each other on the function buttons. Not to mention, unless this is the kind of thing you do all the time, wouldn't you be paranoid about this exact thing happening and double, then triple-checking where you were about to send a picture like that to? Now I admit that I have never sent any type of racy photos out before, but I have sent my fair share of snarky messages about various friends and co-workers and before I hit send I make extra sure the subject has not been accidentally included in the mailing list. If I'm that careful about sending a text with such scathing topics such as how a presentation was too long than I'm pretty sure everyone sending out naked pictures for the first time would be diligent about what they were doing as well. 

Of course, one of the reasons I have my doubts is that too many actors seem to come from the "any attention is good attention" school of thought. What most of them fail to see is that this kind of publicity is never a good idea because not only does it make you look like someone who doesn't know how to work a phone, it also never lasts. The 20 minutes of people looking at your IMDB page before we all move on to the next shiny new internet controversy is simply not worth it, especially when this is the first time many people will be hearing your name. You won't be taken seriously going forward when a picture of you with no shirt on is the first thing to show up during a Google search of your name. For example, I don't care how many rappers Kim Kardashian dates, fake marriages she goes through with or seasons of her stupid reality show she does, she is always going to be the girl who made that sex tape. I'm sure it was fun to be a trending topic on Twitter for a minute, but I don't think that is going to impress any casting directors (at least not the kind you want). Now that camera phones are part of our lives we are never going to stop people from taking these kinds of photos or occasionally having them fall into the wrong hands (again, good luck with that, parents) but there is no need to help them get there.