Reddit user who helped spread nude celebrity images has no regrets

The Reddit user who created The Fappening, the now-shutdown page where users of the social network helped spread nude photos of celebrities illegally obtained by a hacker, has done an ‘ask me anything’ (AMA) on the social network - in which he complains about the press and says he has no regrets.

In the question and answer session “Johnsmcjohn” said he did not feel any guilt for creating the subreddit adding “I created it on a whim and just rode the wave as it went viral.”

"John" is not the hacker of the photos, nor is it claimed that he ever took part in the so-called "nude celebrity photo trading ring".

Asked about a Washington Post article which revealed he was a 33-year-old asexual man who had once said he had been “bored to tears” by a strip club, Johnsmcjohn said: “I don't like it, but so be it... It makes me sad, because she focused on my financial troubles when they aren't related to the sub[reddit] at all.”

He went on: "I decided Thursday that I wouldn't delete my account and if the press wants to send me thru [sic] the ringer, so be it. I won't be bullied into silence."

As for the pictures themselves, he said: “I didn't post them. I didn't host them. These pics would be posted regardless and I tried to make sure my community was in line with reddit's rules.”

Although the images were first posted on 4chan they reached a much wider audience on Reddit, where the creator of the subreddit said the page had received 250million views in a week.

It is thought around 100 celebrities were victims of the hack.

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H/T The Verge