Comedian Whitney Cummings Posts Nipple Photo After Strangers Try To Blackmail Her WIth It
The photo reportedly comes from an Instagram Story that Whitney Cummings had deleted.
In an effort to subvert an extortion attempt, comedian and actress Whitney Cummings shared a photo showing her bare nipple on social media on Monday night.
The photo in question seems to be a screen grab from an Instagram Story featuring Cummings, 36, as she sits in a bath tub and addresses the camera. In a series of tweets on Monday, August 14, Cummings explained that exposing her nipple was accidental, but that “foolish dorks” were attempting to use the slip-up, which occurred in April, to get money from her.
“In April I accidentally posted an insta story that showed nipple. Once I realized, I deleted. The people who took screen grabs are trying to get money from me, some said they have offers to sell them, some are asking for money to not post the photo,” she wrote.
But the comedian says she wasn't about to give in to blackmail.
“They all must think I’m way more famous than I am, but they also must think I’m way more easily intimidated than I am. If anyone is gonna make money or likes off my nipple, it’s gonna be me. So here it all is, you foolish dorks,” she wrote in a second tweet, alongside the photo itself, which shows Cummings in a bathtub with one of her nipples visible.
Cummings’ decision to release the photo herself drew support from fans and other comedians, and spawned the Twitter hashtag, “istandwithwhitney.”
The people responsible for the extortion attempt have not been named, with Cummings explaining in another tweet that she chose not to publicize their information because “some of them might be dumb kids.”
Cummings expanded on her decision, writing, “When a woman in the public eye is extorted, we have to spend time, money and energy dealing with it, hiring lawyers and security experts, and living with a pit in our stomach about when and how we will be humiliated. Y’all can have my nipple, but not my time or money anymore.”
Cummings is not the only woman in the spotlight to take a stand against extortion attempts. Actress Bella Throrne took a similar course of action in June when she posted nude photos of herself on Twitter in response to being hacked and receiving threats, PEOPLEe reports.