Nonconsensual nude photos are always a violation, even when they're of men

Last Thursday, the internet woke up to a sex tape of A$AP Rocky on Pornhub. At first, it wasn’t clear if it was actually the rapper, but soon a confirmation from A$AP himself verified that the was actually him.

“MY PENIS AND I WOKE UP 2 THE ALARMING DISTURBANCE OF A VIDEO CLIP 2DAY,” Rocky wrote on Twitter. The video was released without Rocky’s consent, and it’s not clear when it was made or who the woman pictured in the video was. But the internet was merciless with the footage. Jokes about Rocky’s sexual performance spread like wildfire.

“AS HIS DEFENSE ATTORNEY WE’RE PREPARED 2 DENY ANY SLOW STROKES OR LACK OF KILLIN THE PUSSY,” Rocky continued, as a rebuttal against all the jokes about the footage. “A LONG LIST OF SATISFIED WOMEN CAN ATTEST TOO.”

Within 24 hours, another famous penis allegedly reached Twitter. This time, it was supposedly NBA player Steph Curry. His name began trending on the platform as did a post showing photos that were supposed to be Steph Curry’s nudes. But unlike A$AP Rocky’s Twitter confessional, representatives for Curry denied that the photos were of Steph.

Soon after Curry’s name began trending, the original post of photos was deleted. “Of course it's not him," a representative from the Warriors told The San Francisco Chronicle. Many NBA fans believed that Curry’s name was trending because of his three-month recovery from an injury — and they were unpleasantly surprised when they realized it was actually because of nudes.

As the photos of Curry and the video of Rocky continued to circulate, and their names kept trending, the jokes from Twitter just kept coming.

Over the weekend, yet another male celebrity became the apparent victim of nudes being leaked. A post circulating of what was allegedly Dababy in a video gained traction on Sunday, to the extent that Dababy felt compelled to log on to deny that he has ever sent nudes.

In the video, Dababy's voice can be heard rapping his verse in "Animal" as the camera pans down and shows someone's naked lower half. With Dababy denying that the video was him, it was determined that his voice was dubbed over the original footage, which came from an online personality known as Jack the RippHer. Jack informed Bossip that the video was from his OnlyFans account.

As with Steph Curry and A$AP Rocky, there jokes came flowing in. And while most of the comments about Dababy's alleged nudes could be misinterpreted as flattering, these men are just the latest victims of celebrity privacy violations. And as easy it is to take the opportunity to make a joke about this situation, it’s alarming that non-consensual nudes are being shared so widely.

Even if it isn't actually the men in the pictures (which is allegedly the situation in the case of Curry and Dababy) it is still a violation. When this happens to female celebrities, it is understood that it is an invasion of privacy and an online assault. The same logic should be extended to make celebrities.

Before sharing photos or videos of naked people — no matter how famous they are, or how funny you think your joke is — just don’t. It's wrong.