Over the weekend, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson delivered an impassioned speech aimed at ending gender inequality -- to which group 4chan responded by creating a site called "Emma You Are Next," which alleges to count down the time until a 4chan user will release nude photographs of her.
Shortly after her graduation from Brown University, Watson was named UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Her speech on Saturday marked the first time she spoke to the assembly as a whole, and she did so on behalf of the HeForShe campaign.
HeForShe is an effort, in her words, to "try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don't just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible."
"The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with 'man-hating,'" Watson said. "If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism, by definition, is 'the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.'"
"If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are -- we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about," she continued. "It’s about freedom. I want men to take up this mantle."
In the speech, however, she also noted how "at 14, I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press."
Such elements have made Watson a target of intense interest, of which the 4chan site "Emma You Are Next" is merely the latest instance. The site includes a countdown clock set to four days from Monday, September 22; an image of Watson wiping away tears; and the message, "Never forget, the biggest to come thus far."
The first group of nude photographs hacked from the iCloud by 4chan users included a number of images taken when their subjects were minors. The 4chan site makes no indication of when the photographs of the now 24-year-old Watson it allegedly obtained were taken.
Business Insider is claiming that the site is merely another 4chan hoax, "a prank designed to increase the notoriety of [the] anonymous message board...In the past, 4chan users have tried to convince people to microwave their iPhones, break their Xbox consoles, #EndFathersDay and self-harm for Justin Bieber."
Watch video of Watson's UN speech via YouTube below.
